There are certain things that should never happen when you go into surgery. These are aptly referred to as "never events" because of its seriousness and preventable nature. An example of this would be retained surgical items, such as sponges, needles, and components...
The cute term - "preemies" - belies the serious consequences that babies born too soon can face. The complications of a premature birth may be evident right away or take time to unfold. In the short term, a premature baby may have difficulty breathing or eating. In...
On March 23, 2016, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that any patient data kept by a health care provider, regardless of location, is a medical record that must be released to patients and families. Earlier in the year, we wrote about the dangers of letting medical...
A prestigious reputation is not a defense against hospital-acquired infections. This was evident last week, when the Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins and other prominent institutions received low ratings from Consumer Reports on the prevention of one of the worst types...
A disturbing study conducted by researchers analyzing paid malpractice claims using the National Practitioner Data Bank reveals that doctors who get sued once, are twice as likely to have another claim made against them. That percentage continues to grow with each and...
Throughout much of the 20th century, most doctors acted as general practitioners instead of specializing in a particular area of medicine. This was considered to be a holistic approach to medicine that allowed one doctor to manage a patient's care and see them through...
"Who Moved My Cheese?" was a popular business book a few years ago. It explored the idea that the constancy of change means rewards may not always continue to come from the same place. Today, another cheese image is circulating in organizational theory. The image is...
When doctors spend less time with patients, does it lead to more diagnostic errors? It's a valid question because there are many pressures in medicine today that undercut doctors' ability to spend time actually examining a patient. The availability of so many complex...
It is a situation that happens far too often. A family member starts having chest pains. She tells her treating physician who thinks she has heartburn and he recommends taking some antacids. Some time passes and the chest pain persists. Doctors still have not...
The prescription of opioid painkillers, such as OxyContin, Percocet, and Vicodin, is a popular way for doctors to treat chronic non-malignant medical conditions, such as lower back pain. Recently, however, the effectiveness of such treatment has been called into...
