The Last 5 Blogs

Early in my career, I was the Director of Quality at a hospital in California. It was back when surveys were announced (some of you may be old enough to remember the “good old days”). It was the day before survey and I was walking to the cafeteria to get a cup of coffee…

We all know that proper documentation in the patient’s medical record is a key requirement if your hospital wishes to have a successful survey. While hospitals can assure that their medical record (whether paper or electronic) is designed to be compliant to regulations...

Early in my regulatory career, I worked at a hospital that was cited by CMS for excessive use of verbal (in person) orders. As part of our corrective action plan, we essentially informed the medical staff that such orders would no longer be accepted unless it was an...

Someone once said, “There are only two certainties in life; death and taxes.” Allow me to add a third; violation of CMS restraint standards. Hardly a hospital has escaped unscathed from the diabolical clutches of these complex and nefarious regulations! Here’s the top…

A patient comes into your hospital’s Emergency Department (ED). He is acutely psychotic and hears voices telling him that people want to hurt him. Staff approach the patient and he strikes out at them. The ED physician orders Zyprexa 10mg IM STAT. The patient receives…