Description

Handouts

Outline

The litigation of healthcare.

• Evolving trends in nursing litigation today
• The essence of the story behind litigation
• The burden of proof
• The expert witness seals the deal. Understand the impact.
• Learn whether you should (or shouldn’t) have your own malpractice coverage

There are components of documentation.

• Guidelines and interpretation
• Avoiding mistakes
• A lawyer’s secret weapon: Time stamping on YOUR documentation
• Social networking and indirect care
• Timeline chronology and mapping the case

Documentation for electronic nursing.

• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
• Meaningful Use
• Risky electronic documentation practices
• Charting by exception
• Dangers of email, social networking, and texting
• Should you make a late chart entry? Or not …?
• Avoid the hazards of dropdown boxes in your medical record system

Strategies for electronic medical records.

• Time management
• Liability
• Software knowledge/Informatics
• Does the case have merit?

Documentation and reimbursement.

• Medicare and Medicaid Changes
• Incentives for participation
• Hospital Acquired Conditions

There are elements of a lawsuit.

• Plaintiff complaints
• Medical record review
• Timeline chronology
• Evidence
• Plaintiff deposition testimony

When things go wrong.

• Compliance
• Unsafe processes
• Regulations
• Incident reporting
• Adverse events and risk factors
• When to ask/demand help from a supervisor
• When the patient must transfer out
• Standards that are within standards
• Deviations, real or perceived
• Errors of omission and commission
• Communicating clearly
• Defense deposition testimony

Risky documentation can be avoided.

• Credible evidence
• Avoiding ambiguity
• Recording events objectively
• Late entries and correcting errors

What if the worst happens?

• Duty/Breach of Duty
• Nurse Practice Act
• State Board of Nursing
• Depositions

Faculty

Brenda Elliff, RN, MPA, ONC, CCM, LNCC

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Elliff is a registered nurse and is a member of the ONC, CCM, and LNCC. Elliff Medical-Legal Services was established in 1996. She is a legal nurse consultant. She provides expert witness preparation and performs record reviews.

Medical Malpractice, Worker’s Compensation, Personal Injury, and a variety of legal cases are her work. She taught a Legal Nurse Consultation review course and worked as a Health Care Coordination for a large law firm. She expanded her scope throughout the Pacific NW after working with attorneys in California.

She has been a clinical nurse for 40 years. As a staff nurse, as a nurse manager at major teaching facilities, as a nurse case manager, and as an adjunct nursing professor, she has worked.

When she isn’t nursing, she likes to participate in a local performing group. The group performed in the LA Christmas Parade. th Washington DC has a cherry blossom parade.

Past nurses who have attended the programs have appreciated the fun and dynamic way in which she delivers information. She has been a sought-after speaker at national, state and local levels, on a variety of topics that draw from her areas of expertise.

Speaker disclosures.

Elliff has a private practice. She is paid by PESI, Inc.

There are no relevant non-financial relationships disclosed by Elliff.