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At a time when so many people are in need of mental health services, what is the best way to protect yourself when your patient can't get a timely appointment? The experts at COPIC say proper documentation is key.
Against medical advice discharges can be both distressing and dangerous, both because of the health risks to the patient and the liability risks to the provider.
The benefits of using AI tools to quickly and accurately generate a record of clinical interactions are obvious. However, there are many considerations to examine before implementing the use of such tools.
Dynamic Technical Building Systems (DTB) is a systems integrator providing sales, service, support, and consulting for Nurse Call, and a variety of communication and workflow management systems in healthcare facilities across the Midwest. Here’s how they help make buildings smarter.
Turmoil caused by excessive authorization controls leads to serious or life-threatening events for patients, unnecessary waste, and physician burnout, according to the latest survey from the American Medical Association (AMA).
COPIC expert Eric Zacharias, MD, with a case study that illustrates how, during routine screening visits, symptomatic evaluations can be lost to follow up.
As the use of AI in healthcare ramps up, there is an ongoing necessity for healthcare systems to regularly assess the impact and risks of AI as its development and deployment is outpacing legal, medical, or business changes.
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications is the most important new information technology in decades that will change healthcare. This creates an ongoing necessity for healthcare systems to regularly assess the impact and risks of AI as its development and deployment is outpacing legal, medical, or business changes.
June 15 commemorates World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD), a day for people and organizations to get informed and take action to protect older individuals against elder abuse. Elder abuse refers to intentional or negligent acts by a caregiver or trusted individual that causes harm to an older person.
These case studies present two situations where a physician sees a patient who has apparent medical misdiagnosis or mismanagement by a prior provider.
In the era of open access, patient portals, and new information blocking rules, patients now have the ability to demand documentation of their visits with medical providers. Find out what the new rules mean for providers, including common records to which patients don't have access
In the era of open access, patient portals, and new information blocking rules, patients now have the ability to demand documentation of their visits with medical providers.
Breakdown of how to follow “Uniform Guidance for Procurement in Your Healthcare Organization”
Information Blocking is the term adopted by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) to address barriers to accessing electronically stored patient information by providers, patients, and others entitled to it.
Among other things, 2020 will go down as The Year of Telemedicine. What began as a response to COVID-19 has emerged to become a more permanent shift in health care.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created many new challenges for hospitals to manage and exacerbated existing complexities. A few examples are: Regulatory compliance, Telemedicine and telehealth, New competition, Revenue and receivables, Financial reporting, Higher deductible plans, Cancelled or deferred services, COVID-related expenses.
When it comes to medical liability risks, you can never overemphasize prevention. The best way to avoid adverse outcomes is implementing measures that prevent them from happening in the first place. Read on for a list of six ways to be proactive and minimize your liability.
When it comes to medical liability risks, you can never overemphasize prevention. The best way to avoid adverse outcomes is implementing measures that prevent them from happening in the first place.
Health care providers may experience interactions with law enforcement personnel that create uncertainty around their responsibilities to patients, including the duty to protect patients’ privacy. Law enforcement personnel are tasked with ensuring public safety and conducting criminal investigations.
One of the challenges of being a medical provider is when your world intersects with the legal world. It can place you in situations where confusion and concern may arise when deciding the proper course of action. A common example is when health care providers receive medical records request from an attorney.
Dean McConnell, JD, is Senior Legal Counsel with COPIC, a leading provider of medical professional liability insurance.
In conversations about opioid prescriptions, there can be unspoken fears and motivations swirling beneath the surface. The patient may be fearful, aggressive or even dishonest. The clinician may fear backlash if the answer is no, but also knows that saying no could save a life.
Developing and maintaining an active risk management program can be a challenge for any employer. Healthcare facilities are no different and face many of the same obstacles that other industries are challenged with overcoming.
Traditionally, diagnosis has been thought of as solely the physician’s responsibility; accordingly, most leaders of healthcare organizations take a hands-off approach. But, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, diagnostic error is not simply failing to diagnose correctly—it’s the failure to establish an accurate and timely explanation of the patient's health problem or communicate it to the patient.1
Effective July 1, healthcare providers, business associates, and other businesses maintaining patient information in South Dakota, will have a new law with which to adhere.
Physicians are aware that the practice of medicine carries risk, and that adverse outcomes can and do happen to patients. Physicians just don’t think they’re going to be a part, or cause, of them. Patients have risk factors that can increase the likelihood of complications, and medical procedures have their own inherent risks. Physicians know this. But when something goes wrong for patients, it can be devastating to physicians because they care deeply about their patients.
“You look tired.” Everyone knows this is never a compliment. But did you also realize it can be an actual danger to yourself and others in your workplace? While fatigue is not the same thing as general sleepiness, ongoing lack of quality sleep can increase the risk of fatigue. Additionally, shift work, workload, monotonous tasks, and other environmental factors can also increase one’s risk of fatigue in the workplace.
According to the 2011 to 2013 Bureau of Labor Statistics data, US healthcare workers suffered 15,000 to 20,000 injuries each year related to workplace violence that required time away from work for treatment and recovery. 1 Between 70% and 74% of all workplace violence injuries occurred in healthcare, on average this is four times greater than in private industry.2
To ensure an effective physician-patient relationship and provide quality care, you must be able to communicate with your patients.