Supporting Safer Healthcare

Are you planning to change positions, or negotiate a salary increase in your current job? The article Four Negotiation Tips for Women Executives cited below contains this bit of wisdom: Ask — almost everything is negotiable if you see it that way. If you’re afraid the answer will be no, rest assured it will be [...]

He called himself a doctor and administered anesthesia, but Dean Faiello was unlicensed, untrained, and lethal. Mr. Faiello was extradited from Costa Rica in May and arraigned on a murder charge in the death of Maria Cruz 35, a financial analyst and "patient" of Mr. Faiello.  Ms. Cruz’ body was found February 18, 2004, buried [...]

Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup Washington has received a preliminary denial of accreditation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). The 225 bed hospital is working to clarify the findings and retain their standing as an accredited hospital.  Evidence will be presented at a June 30th meeting. The Puyallup Herald – Good [...]

If you’re a regular reader of MedPundit, you know that she is a family practictitioner who began incorporating electronic medical records into her private practice several months ago. She has periodically blogged about the rather painful, and exceedingly time-consuming transition from paper to computerized patient record.  At times she appeared to question whether switching to [...]

On May 23rd a federal jury condemned a Chicago podiatrist to death for murder.  Dr. Ronald Mikos fatally shot Joyce Brannon 54, a disabled former nurse, at point-blank range in 2002, just four days before she was to testify against him in a $1 million Medicare fraud case. Chicago News Targethttp://www.newstarget.com/007560.html California Board of Podiatric [...]

Effective July 2005, JCAHO standard HR.1.20 has been revised to require primary source verification for all clinical staff who are required by the organization or the state to have licensure, registration or certification:  The organization has a process to ensure that a person’s qualifications are consistent with his or her job responsibilities. The intent of [...]

In a lesson both to consumers, who despite contrary evidence still shop for weight-loss/muscle-toning miracles, and physicians who may be asked to endorse them, a California physician has found himself caught up in an "electrical storm." On May 23, 2005  Sign-on San Diego reported that a California orthopedic surgeon has been ordered to pay $175,000 [...]

We all have days when we wonder whether we should keep doing what it is we do.  We could certainly choose a career that’s easier, different, less stressful, than whatever function it is we perform to keep the giant wheels of medicine churning forward. Having worked for a number of years in an Emergency Department, [...]

From time to time questions arise as to who the government and insurance companies identify as a family member of a physician.  These regulations affect who a physician may submit a bill for to a government agency, and issues relating to Stark Regulations and conflict of interest.  In addition to billing and potential conflict of [...]

Posting comments on the MSSPNexus Blog is much easier in this new format.  Click on the comment link at the bottom of a post and share your insights with your colleagues. Please keep your comments brief, on topic, and of course, professional. Thanks.