Pain is one of the most common reasons adults seek medical care in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American healthcare providers write 259 million prescriptions for opioid pain medication each yea…
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been utilized for some time now in the pharmacy setting, but it has evolved significantly in recent years. So much so that pharmacies can better predict drug effectiveness, identify potential side effects, quicken tim…
The total number of U.S. products recalled this year has now topped 1 billion, according to our latest U.S. product Recall Index. More than 1 billion units have been recalled only twice before in history, in 2018 and 2021. However, it took a full yea…
Sedgwick supports Healthcare Risk Management Week June 19-23 Sedgwick’s healthcare risk management team works alongside healthcare risk managers to reduce risks and improve safety by delivering cost-effective claims, productivity, managed care…
As healthcare delivery in the U.S. undergoes profound change from volume-based to value-based, patient-centered and more transparent care, there is increasing emphasis on quality and safety. In moving toward a culture of safety, leaders and policym…
As we move into the new year, I am excited about all the great things I believe will happen in our industry. Taking care of people is at the heart of everything we do at Sedgwick – from ensuring injured and ill workers have access to the right heal…
During hospital and healthcare facility risk assessments around the country, we often hear nurses’ feedback about staffing challenges and heavy workloads. Is this perception or is it a reality that nurse staffing levels are impacting safety? News …
Managing drug samples in a physician’s office or ambulatory care clinic requires a system of checks and balances to help prevent medication errors and adverse drug events, establish a tracking system for alerts and recalls to comply with federal la…
Consolidation of hospitals and health systems may have hit an all-time high as health reform and market forces continue to drive mergers and acquisitions. It is important for healthcare organizations to address the cultures that exist in different …
On January 30, 2015 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a reformulated version of Zohydro ER (a long-acting, single-entity hydrocodone product) that is designed to possess abuse-deterrent properties. When the FDA originally approve…
Emergency Department (ED) staff members have all felt the anxiety of a potential missed diagnosis. For those who have actually witnessed a missed chance, it is not hard to understand how agonizing it would be to realize the missing piece of informa…
I write this reflecting on the flurry of news around recent Ebola activity. There isn’t one of us in the healthcare risk management profession who wants our organization to be the subject of unfavorable news headlines, and it’s important to take le…
Reprinted from Sedgwick's Professional Liability Risk Resource newsletter, second edition 2014 As the Meaningful Use incentive program forges ahead, the tide has shifted for electronic health record (EHR) adoption in both acute care and outpatient s…
Healthcare is undergoing dramatic change. The operating environment for hospitals is rapidly shifting from a volume-based delivery model to a value-based one. A road map for hospitals to transform from the fee-for-service first curve to the pay-for…
In any given week, a health care risk manager can find themselves involved in something new – investigating a patient injury, preparing a statement for a liability claim, educating staff on safety, assisting in designing risk transfer or financing …