Today’s Top Story
Study finds that many medical liability settlement agreements limit transparency.
A study published online in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that nondisclosure clauses may be common in many medical liability settlement agreements, and that such clauses are often broader in scope than would be required to protect the parties involved. The researchers conducted a retrospective review of medical liability claim files from a single academic medical system for cases closed before (FY 2001-2002), during (FY 2006-2007), and after (FYs 2009-2012) the implementation of statewide tort reform. They found 715 closed medical liability claims and 150 settlement payments. Among 124 cases that met inclusion criteria, 110 (88.7 percent) had settlement agreements that included nondisclosure provisions. All nondisclosure clauses prohibited disclosure of the settlement terms and amount, 61 (55.5 percent) prohibited disclosure that the settlement had been reached, 51 (46.4 percent) prohibited disclosure of the facts of the claim, 29 (26.4 percent) prohibited reporting to regulatory agencies, and 10 (9.1 percent) prohibited disclosure by the settling physicians and hospitals as well as by the claimant. In addition, three agreements (2.7 percent) included specific language that prohibited the claimant from disparaging the physicians or hospitals. The researchers note that the 50 settlement agreements signed after tort reform took full effect had stricter nondisclosure provisions than the 60 signed in earlier years. Read more…
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Other News
Study: IPC therapy may reduce early incidence of DVT among patients who undergo surgical repair of Achilles tendon.
Findings from a Swedish study published in the May issue of The Bone & Joint Journal suggest that intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) therapy may reduce the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in the early stages of postoperative immobilization among outpatients who undergo surgical repair of acute ruptures of the Achilles tendon. The authors conducted a prospective, randomized trial of 148 patients who had surgical repair of the Achilles tendon. Patients were randomized to receive treatment with IPC for 6 hours per day under an orthosis (n = 74), or treatment as usual in a plaster cast without IPC (n = 74). At 2-week follow-up, the incidence of DVT was 21 percent in the treatment group and 37 percent in the control group. However, at 6-week follow-up, the incidence of DVT was 52 percent in the treatment cohort and 48 percent in the control cohort. Read the abstract…
Study: Many pediatric patients undergo preoperative fasting that greatly exceeds ASA recommendations.
According to research presented at the Clinical Nutrition Week 2015 meeting, many children undergo prolonged preoperative fasting that greatly exceeds current American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) recommendations. The research team reviewed records of more than 22,000 pediatric patients who underwent elective surgery at a single center and found that 10 percent had gone more than 18 hours without eating, and 36 percent had gone more than 6 hours without liquids. Overall, the research team found that the median duration of preoperative fasting was 4 hours for liquids and 14 hours for solids. ASA recommends that patients stop drinking liquids 2 hours prior and stop eating 6 hours prior to an operation. Read more…
Study: Some surgeons more likely to recommend surgery for patients than for themselves.
Data from a study conducted in The Netherlands and published online in the journal Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research (CORR) suggest that orthopaedic surgeons’ recommendations for treatment may vary from the treatment they would choose for themselves. The researchers asked 254 surgeons to review 21 fictional upper extremity cases for which surgical treatment is optional. Half of the participants were randomized to choose a treatment plan for themselves if they had this injury or illness, while the other half were randomized to make treatment recommendations for a patient of the physician’s age and gender. They found that surgeons were more likely to recommend surgery for a patient than they were to choose surgery for themselves, with a mean difference of 6 percent. In addition, the researchers found that surgeons were more confident in deciding for themselves than they were for a patient of similar age and gender. Read the abstract…
Study: Students may experience negative academic effects of concussion for weeks.
Information published online in the journal Pediatrics suggests that concussion may be associated with adverse academic effects for several weeks after injury. The authors reviewed data on 349 students aged 5 to 18 years who sustained a concussion and whose parents reported academic concerns and problems on a structured school questionnaire within 4 weeks of injury. They found that actively symptomatic students and their parents reported higher levels of concern for the impact of concussion on school performance and more school-related problems than recovered peers and their parents. High school students who had not yet recovered reported significantly more adverse academic effects than their younger counterparts. In addition, increased severity of postconcussion symptoms was associated with more school-related problems and worse academic effects, regardless of time since injury. Read more…
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Apply now to take part in final round of CMS ICD-10 testing.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is accepting additional volunteers to participate in the July ICD-10 end-to-end testing with Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) and the Common Electronic Data Interchange (CEDI) contractor. The agency states that approximately 850 volunteer submitters will be selected to participate during the week of July 20-24, 2015. This will be the final opportunity to participate in end-to-end testing with Medicare prior to the Oct. 1, 2015, ICD-10 implementation date. To participate, volunteers must submit completed application forms by May 22. Read more…
Study attempts to identify predictors of orthopaedic resident performance.
A study published online in CORR attempts to identify selection factors that may predict orthopaedic resident performance. The authors reviewed data on 60 orthopaedic residents from a single institution and assessed resident performance based on objective measures such as American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery Part I scores and Orthopaedics In-Training Exam scores, along with subjective ratings by faculty and faculty rankings of residents. They found that United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 2, number of honors in medical school clerkships, and Alpha Omega Alpha honor society membership demonstrated the strongest correlations with resident performance. Read the abstract…
Call for volunteers: FDA seeks surgeons experienced on cervical disk systems.
AAOS seeks to nominate candidates with experience using cervical disk systems in artificial disk replacement procedures to participate in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Network of Experts program. The agency is particularly interested speaking with surgeons who use (or who have used) Medtronic’s Prestige cervical disk to help the FDA better understand users’ perspectives and any issues or concerns that may be present in the clinical environment. Applicants for this position must be active members, candidate members, candidate members osteopathic, candidate member applicants for fellowship, or candidate member applicants for fellowship osteopathic. In addition, all applicants must provide the following: an online AAOS CAP application, a current curriculum vitae, and a completed conflict of interest (COI) form. All supporting materials must be submitted by Thursday, May 22, 2015 at 11:59 pm CT. To request a COI form and submit supporting materials, please contact Kyle Shah, at shah@aaos.org.
Learn more and submit your application…
