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What if every staff member was asked to define risk management? It’s likely that no two responses would match. It’s even possible that some responses would be incorrect. In all likelihood however, everyone questioned would agree that risk management is essential given the increasingly litigious environment of long term care. It’s important for every staff  Continue Reading »

Teleradiology and telemedicine have increasingly become more popular as hospitals and other healthcare providers outsource their radiology and other specialty work to independent practitioners. These practitioners often operate from remote locations, with some based in the same city but many based in distant states or even overseas. Telemedicine organizations provide diagnostic and clinical medical services  Continue Reading »

When it comes to general liability insurance for long term care facilities, ratings are often based on the CMS 5 STAR rating system.* This is data that consumers view as the holy grail of quality metrics for skilled nursing facilities. It essentially says a facility rated 5 STAR is well above average and a facility  Continue Reading »

As part of our role as specialists, we wanted to learn more about the risks specific to radiologists, so we reached out to Karen Kruer, RN, CPHRM, and Michelle Foster Earle, ARM, President of OmniSure Consulting Group, for information on the unique risks for radiologists. Here’s what we learned. Radiologists are second only to neurosurgeons in  Continue Reading »

While ready to take on the life and death challenges of their patients, many medical facilities and healthcare providers are ill prepared to deal with a potential onslaught of media during or following a crisis. From media coverage to reputation management to possible litigation, a public relations and media management plan is the best way  Continue Reading »

Here are the top five reasons that physicians get sued – and some prevention steps they may take to reduce risk: #1. Poor communication with patients This is by far the biggest issue. The majority of lawsuits filed by patients or their families are done simply to find out what actually happened during their treatment.  Continue Reading »

Home healthcare workers, unlike healthcare facility care providers, should be aware of a variety of safety risks that are unique to the private home environment. Awareness of risk factors and learning safe practices can greatly improve the quality of care and reduce the risk of patient or employee injury, potential lawsuits and costly insurance claims.  Continue Reading »

What are the top 5 mistakes for healthcare facility staff? And more importantly, from a risk management perspective, what are some steps that can be taken to decrease the risks associated with human error? Mistake #1 Poor care coordination with patient’s next phase of care A communication breakdown can occur at the following patient handoff  Continue Reading »

“To write or to type?” That is the question. Actually, for everyone in the medical profession, the reality of the paper chart is slowly coming to a close. The digital age is moving forward at lightning speed. Electronic medical records (EMRs) are now a reality (also known as electronic health records or EHRs), not just  Continue Reading »

Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are defined as groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers, who come together voluntarily to give coordinated high-quality care to their Medicare patients and the chronically ill.  This is one of the ways the Affordable Care Act seeks to reduce health care costs – by encouraging doctors, hospitals and  Continue Reading »