Jul 21, 2015 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations, Uncategorized
In response to healthcare’s transformation, a pathologist and a lab CEO describe two powerful ways that medical laboratories can collaborate with physicians, patients, health systems, and health insurers to deliver more value
DATELINE: Phoenix, Arizona—It may be appropriate that, with the pace of change heating up in both healthcare and the clinical laboratory industry, it was here in the hot Sonoran Desert that more than 500 medical laboratory professionals gathered last week for the annual Sunquest User Group Conference (SUG) hosted by Sunquest Information Systems. (more…)
May 16, 2014 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Violence by patients against physicians in China is a reminder to pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals about the importance of gaining patient trust in local medical laboratory test providers too
Medical errors, inaccurate diagnoses, and poor clinical care by clinicians in China are believed to be the primary reasons why a growing number of Chinese patients are physically attacking their doctors. Hospitals in China are beefing up security to protect physicians from what are often violent attacks.
This trend is a reminder to pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals in the United States and other developed nations of how essential it is maintain patients’ complete confidence and trust in their caregivers. That trust is anchored in accurate medical laboratory testing, precise diagnosis, and high-quality clinical care that is appropriate to a patient’s disease or health problem.
More Chinese Patients Turn Violent on Physicians and Caregivers
What makes this trend particularly noteworthy is that Chinese people are often viewed as patient and obedient. Now, however, when it comes to their healthcare, a growing number of Chinese patients are not patently compliant or meek. Over the last decade, disgruntled patients or family members have turned the nation’s hospitals into scary places for doctors and nurses to work. That’s because violent attacks on caregivers are increasing at an alarming rate.
China’s 1,000 top hospitals have seen a rise in “disputes escalating into violence, as well as random attacks,” stated Sun Haibo, Department Chief at China’s Ministry of Public Security’s Public Security Management Bureau in Bejing, in a recent report published by Bloomberg Businessweek. (more…)
Dec 31, 2012 | Coding, Billing, and Collections, Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Who is responsible when a patient is misdiagnosed because the patient’s physician read a clinical laboratory test report incorrectly?
Could clinical pathologists be held responsible for medical errors caused by other providers? That’s a possibility under a proposal from the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
AHRQ is seeking approval for a prototype of a new reporting system for medical errors, AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D., told The New York Times in a story published on September 22, 2012. “Currently there is no mechanism for consumers to report information about patient safety events,” she said.
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Sep 7, 2011 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Clinical laboratory managers are often part of the ER’s process improvement team
Hospital emergency rooms (ER) across the country are intensifying their focus on improving patient safety and reducing errors. The cost of malpractice lawsuits filed after errors in emergency rooms is a major reason why growing numbers of hospitals are initiating formal programs to identify and eliminate the source of errors and wrong care provided to patients.
It probably won’t surprise most pathologists and clinical laboratory managers to learn that diagnostic errors are one significant source of malpractice claims that result from care provided by hospital emergency rooms, which can often be chaotic and overcrowded. Recently, The Wall Street Journal reported that a large percentage of medical errors in hospitals—and the resulting malpractice suits—occur because of mistakes in the emergency room. Studies of closed claims show that 37% to 55% of the malpractice suits are attributable to diagnostic errors. (more…)
May 27, 2009 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Effort to notify and test as many as 10,555 patients is under way
Reforms in the healthcare system are requiring fundamental changes in how hospitals and other healthcare providers, including clinical laboratories, report medical errors. At the same time, consumers are tracking the quality differences between providers and insisting on more accountability for medical errors.
These points were highlighted in a Dark Daily e-briefing on March 11, 2009, titled “Medical Errors Become a Headline News Item.” At that time, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) had made public the discovery of multi-year problems at VA clinics in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and Augusta, Georgia. At both sites, improper procedures with diagnostic equipment had been identified. In both situations, the problems meant that thousands of patients may have been exposed to infection.
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