Here are some interesting facts about ICD-10 that may not be commonly known. International Classification of Diseases (ICD) was created by the World Health Organization (WHO), which has served the healthcare community for over a century. While most industrialized countries moved to the ICD’s “tenth revision” – ICD-10 – 30 years ago (1983), the United
This article discusses a HIPAA violation so obscene it is difficult to believe. A nurse took a picture of a patient’s private area while he was unconscious, and then sent the pictures to her coworkers via text message. Obviously this is a colossal mistake, and a violation of privacy, decency and common sense. These types
I often find myself coming back to this issue because it is so troubling – the third leading cause of death in America is, in fact, our nation’s healthcare. Patients are dying from the medical treatment itself versus the actual health issue they sought care for in the first place. Whether it be inappropriate medications,
I have long encouraged people to avoid going to hospitals if they can help it. Just last year, I wrote a column for Risk & Insurance on this very topic. But the message bears repeating, because the numbers are staggering. An estimated 440,000 people die each year in the hospital – and not from the
Researchers have been able to see “pain” on a brain scan for the first time. This development indicates that in the future, we will be able to pinpoint pain and the scale of that pain more effectively. Think of one tiny application of this technology in the future: Case managers and doctors often have trouble determining between chronic
