As more and more stories are published detailing how even the largest health care systems can fall victim to data breaches, we are seeing an increase in requests for this type of coverage. Dealing with a data breach is an awful experience for everyone involved and can have significant financial, administrative and reputation-tarnishing effects. Financial […]

MedPageToday.com recently had a great article talking about the use of apology in medicine. The article featured an assortment of physicians and one lawyer. And, while no one wants to anticipate a medical error, it is a good idea to think about what one would do and how one would handle it, should one occur. […]

When we talk about the “art and science” of medicine, the ability to negotiate with patients and colleagues clearly falls under the “art” part. And, while more and more medical schools are recognizing the importance of teaching communication skills, like breaking bad news, I don’t know if any school is teaching the art of negotiation […]

Electronic health records are frustrating already overwhelmed healthcare professionals nationwide. EHRs are expensive and time consuming; often decrease efficiency and, in many cases, are counterintuitive in their function. They also open a completely new, 21st Century set of patient safety and privacy risks. A recent survey conducted by the American College of Physicians shows that […]

When we think of patient privacy and keeping patient information and records safe, we tend to think about online computer security, proper use of passwords, secure EMRs, minimizing elevator talk and the like. But, what about physicians and health care providers posting “anonymous” patient pics and info to social media? Recently, many physicians and health […]

Much has been written about physicians addressing and acknowledging errors to patients, but little has been written about how health care professionals should address each other regarding errors and even less has been written about how to address each others’ patients when a colleague has committed an error –especially when it directly impacts a mutual […]

When we think about a data breach in a medical or health care setting, we usually tend to worry about a patient’s personal identity being stolen –someone using that person’s social security number and/or credit card information. Less often do we worry about someone stealing a patient’s medical identity. But, unfortunately, this is a problem […]

PhysiciansPractice.com recently had a great article, entitled, EHRs Can Be Risky Business for Physicians, that summarized nicely 6 things that we agree that all practices should be concerned about with respect to EHRs. We will summarize them here, today. Top 6 Areas of Liability for EHRs: 1. Incomplete implementation. The author, Jeffrey D. Brunken, writes […]

With the recent press over the New York Attorney General fining many companies for providing artificial online reviews, we thought we’d take a moment to address the topic ourselves, in two ways: 1. It probably goes without saying, but in case you are still tempted to do this, don’t. While no one wants a bad […]