If hospitals are scrutinized for the occurrence of falls, the natural tendency will be to focus on such events even at the expense of competing (and perhaps more important) outcomes. Unintended consequences are likely to include a decrease in mobility and a resurgence in the use of physical restraints in a misguided effort to prevent fall-related injuries.

[New England Journal of Medicine via KevinMD]

“The unintended consequences of preventing patient falls” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Adopting hospital quality measures too quickly can harm patients” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Hospital patient falls as “never events” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Say hello to the Advance Beneficiary Notices. Medicare won’t cover preventative care, so you are going to have to pay for it out of your pocket. If you’re prone to falls or bedsores, you’ll have to pay for a personal nurse to wait on you hand and foot so you don’t develop these never events. If you don’t pay for a personal nurse 24 hours around the clock to keep a never event from happening, you’re personally responsible for paying the costs of treatment if the “never events” occur. You had the opportunity to prevent the events but you were just too cheap to pay for it. I think that ABNs are less likely to catch on, but eventually I think they will become commonplace.

Medicare adopts “never event” policy is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

More: Numerous interesting comments from readers including this from Throckmorton:

This is not just in L.A. but happens all around the country as well. Our area saw this increase with the rise in nursing home suits. Nursing homes are now very reluctant to accept patients who are at risk for decubitus ulcers, etc. This combined with the declining revenue has led to the situation where there are no places that will accept transfers from the hospital. As more and more patients fill the wards awaiting placement, the hospital has no choice but to divert those that need urgent care.

You may not be able to get a nursing home patient out of the hospital, but at least you will not have a problem finding them an attorney.

L.A.: Hospitals can’t discharge homeless patients is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Never events” are and always have been “all about the Benjamins.” Look at this news release. The “background” section states that the “never events” were “required” pursuant to Section 5001(c) of the Deficit Reduction Act. Medicare wants to stop paying for things not because they “should never happen” but because it’s trying to save money. The whole “never event” moniker is just a spin they put on the cuts to make it look like someone else’s fault. Do “never events” never occur at government run hospitals? We’ll never know because CMS doesn’t even include government run hospitals on the “hospital compare” list.

White Coat Rants on “never events” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

June 9 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

May 12 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Pending the abolition of gravity… is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

• More critics pile onto new Medicare “we won’t pay for errors” policy [Orac, Chris Rangel, Universal Health, MedPundit; earlier; plus KevinMD]


• Wisconsin lawmaker wants to address perceived lawyer oversupply by cutting funding to the state’s law school [NLJ]


• What would great authors of Britain’s past have thought of pub smoking ban? [AN Wilson, Telegraph; one response; more]


• As Texas trial lawyer Mikal Watts gears up Senate run, his GOP critics turn for ammunition to a certain website [ChronBlog via Half Empty]


• Holder in due course? Pa. man has left fragrant ethical trail buying up bounced checks and demanding their payment in court [NJLJ]


• One reason for slow adoption of electronic medical records: docs’ fear of wider malpractice exposure [Medical Economics via KevinMD]


• “He knows there is irony in a criminal defense attorney being driven out of the city because of crime” [Baltimore Sun]


• More evidence that Endangered Species Act perversely encourages landowners to make their habitat inhospitable [Adler @ Volokh]


• If you recognize one of your hospital patients as a wanted fugitive, don’t let HIPAA keep you from calling cops [MedRants first, second post]


• Teenager may face year in jail for recording 20-second movie clip [Wired “Gadget Lab” via Harsanyi and Reynolds]


• Behind a judge’s order that GM pay $1.2 billion over a drunk driver’s crash [eight years ago at Overlawyered; case’s eventual settlement]

August 27 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system