It’s no secret that healthcare workers are at an increased risk for needle stick or sharps injuries, especially nursing staff, doctors, and lab workers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 600,000 to 800,000 needle stick injuries occur each year, many going unreported.

The goal of CAP’s Risk Management and Patient Safety Department is to prevent patient injury, prevent adverse events, and reduce claims by educating physicians to utilize risk strategies across the continuum of care.

CAP members face a variety of challenges in their medical practice in addition to lawsuits by patients. CAP members may also encounter Medical Board inquiries, regulatory investigations or complaints about Medicare/Medicaid fraud or abuse, and even discrimination lawsuits brought by former or current employees.

What do you do when a patient comes into your office with a dog? Tell them to leave? Allow the dog no matter what? The answer is that it depends. Service dogs are governed by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the California Disabled Persons Act (CDPA), the Unruh Civil Rights Act, and the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). 

The increasing use of electronic health records (EHR) has resulted in an increased ability to electronically track activities that occur within a specific medical record. This is accomplished by review of the metadata, audit trails, or audit logs.