When it comes to medical malpractice, doctors are concerned about something the rest of us haven’t thought much about -the use of electronic medical records. Writing on Medscape.com, Neil Chesanow, senior editor of the site geared toward health care practitioners, explains how a doctor can be sued if his or her medical records compromise patient….
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Copy and Paste Medical Records: A Tempting Shortcut with Perils for Patient Safety
Electronic medical records make it easy — too easy — to document that a doctor or nurse has performed a model examination of a patient. One click, and the empty slots fill in the results of a normal exam from head to toe. But was that thorough exam really done? Copy and paste is another….
Continue ReadingMaryland Medical Staffing Agency Placed Rogue Tech into Hospitals Where He Infected Patients with Hepatitis
A Maryland-based medical staffing agency is at the center of allegations that it placed a rogue radiological technician into a number of hospitals in Maryland and other states. The technician is believed to have infected dozens of people with hepatitis C. Maxim Staffing Solutions, a national firm with headquarters in Columbia, Maryland, placed technician David….
Continue ReadingElectronic Health Records Make Doctors Accountable — and Some Don’t Like That
Electronic health records (EHRs) hold much promise for reducing medical errors and improving quality of care, but the prospect that patient advocates can use EHRs to do an autopsy of where a patient’s care went wrong has some in the medical industry sounding an alarm. Last week a story (actually a press release, on closer….
Continue ReadingSave Money by Avoiding Insurance and Billing Errors
As health-care expert Lisa Zamosky points out on WebMD, you might not be able to control medical costs, but scrutiny of your medical bills can help you save money. The key, she says, is knowing when and how to take action. Here are four things to watch. 1. Always review your medical bills. They’re notoriously….
Continue ReadingDining with Drug Reps Proves Unappetizing
As the saying goes, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Not that we know for sure that behavioral economist Dan Ariely considers pharmaceutical manufacturers “enemies,” but we know he’s onto their practices that are not exactly in the best interest of patients. He and a colleague recently had dinner with a few pharmaceutical….
Continue ReadingGrowing Numbers of Physician Assistants May Help Cut Assembly Line Feel for Patients
It’s increasingly common that when you visit the doctor you’ll be seen first, and maybe exclusively, not by the person with the M.D. degree, but by another trained medical professional. According to a report commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2009 nearly half of all office-based physicians practiced with nurse practitioners….
Continue ReadingOne Guide to a Quality Hospital: Does the CEO Have “MD” after His/Her Name?
Who runs a hospital better, a physician or a businessperson? And which is better for patient safety and healthy outcomes? As reported in the New York Times, the conventional wisdom that doctors should focus on patient care and managers should run the infrastructure was challenged by a study in the journal Social Science & Medicine…..
Continue ReadingU.S. Doctors Lose the Paperwork War with Canada
In a stark reminder that the practice of medicine is a business as well as a service, a new study has proved what doctors have been saying for years: Meeting the paperwork needs of insurance companies costs U.S. doctors in a big way. According to the study published in Health Affairs, U.S. docs pay an….
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