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Articles tagged with "patient safety"

Making Up the Difference: Otolaryngologists find ways to provide care for under- and uninsured patients

Doctors Rima and Robert DeFatta, married otolaryngologists who work at Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, spend about an hour each day dealing with insurance-related hassles. About 20 percent of their patients are un- or underinsured, so the two physicians spend time dashing off letters to insurance companies, re-jiggering treatment plans and helping patients access available resources. Recently, Rima DeFatta, MD, had to figure out how to diagnose a patient who presented with symptoms that suggested possible neurologic involvement.

Return on Recycling: Reprocessing single-use devices may lower costs, improve efficiency

The idea of reusing single-use devices may bring to mind the recent news of a Las Vegas urologist who was investigated in March for supposedly resuing single-use devices. As the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports, Dr. Michael Kaplan is accussed of reusing, but not not decontaminating, endocavity needle guides. While Dr. Kaplan’s specific case may be unique, the idea of reprocessing single-use devices is not.

Letters: Taking the Lead on Safety

I read with great interest the article published in the December 2010 issue of ENT Today, “Safety Net: With violence on the rise, otolaryngologists implement prevention strategies”. Physician safety in the workplace is still largely ignored and your article serves to further awareness of the problem. I thank you for providing this forum.

Experience with Robotic Thyroid Surgery in North American Patients

What is the feasibility of robotic thyroid surgery in North American patients? Background: Less invasive thyroid surgery approaches, such as video-assisted thyroidectomy, may be technically difficult and still result in a neck incision. The daVinci Surgical System has been applied to a transaxillary endoscopic approach to the thyroid, allowing increased precision, tremor filtration and more degrees […]

A New Look at Informed Consent: Recent guidelines prompt patient-centered approach

Otolaryngologists are likely to see some changes in the way informed consent is handled at the hospitals where they perform surgery. Recent changes from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), along with Joint Commission rules, have prompted many hospitals and health systems to get more involved in what previously fell firmly in the physician’s purview.

Adverse Event Aftermath: Departments are creating programs to help physicians cope

When Rahul Shah, MD, then a pediatric otolaryngologist at Children’s Hospital in Boston, and several colleagues first undertook a survey of otolaryngologists’ reactions to adverse events in 2004, they provided a blank form for respondents to write about what had happened. In the more than 200 responses they received, Dr. Shah and his colleagues read an outpouring of emotion.