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- Nursing Home Abuse
- Personal Injury and Automobile Accidents
- Medical Malpractice
- DUI, Traffic and Criminal Law Defense
- Business Litigation
- Divorce
Blog 
Medical Malpractice
- More heparin deaths? Yes, its true.
- Joint Commission Targeting Children Medication Mix-Ups
- Finding The Best ER For Your Child
- Why Free Drug Samples Are a Bad Idea
- Knee and Hip Replacements Expected to Spike
Firm News
Newport News Police Official Convicted of Drunken Driving
Three-Car Accident Kills One Person and Injures Four Others
Three High School Students Killed in a Car Crash in Virginia Beach
Young Volunteer Firefighter Killed in Crash
Former Virginia Tech Quarterback Found Guilty of DUI
Four Deaths on Virginia 151 Prompted Change
Fossella Found Guilty of Misdemeanor Charges of DUI in Virginia
Study Reveals 13% of Seniors Report Mistreatment
Grant Helps the Elderly Avoid Nursing Homes
Driver Convicted of DUI Death Arrested Again on DUI Charge
Firm Library
Nursing Home Abuse
- Virginia Adult and Elder Abuse and Neglect Statistics
- Suspect Elder Abuse? Learn About Mandated Reporting
- Signs of elder abuse, neglect, or exploitation
- Understaffed Nursing Homes can Lead to Elder Abuse
- Rights of Nursing Home Residents
Personal Injury and Automobile Accidents
- No Civil Liability for Hosts or Bars in Virginia
- Is Your Car Spying On You?
- What can be done about teen car deaths?
- Common Questions about Virginia’s Seat Belt Laws
- What the Injured Worker Gets
Medical Malpractice
- Website Allows Consumers to Compare Hospitals
- New Technology may Reduce Physician Mistakes
- Shortage of On-Call Specialists at Hospitals is Costing Patients
- Transient Ischemic Attacks & Strokes
- How Medical Mistakes are Costing U.S. Healthcare $8.8 Billion
DUI, Traffic and Criminal Law Defense
- Having one more for the road may skew breath tests
- The Federal Government’s Answer to Hard Core Drinking and Driving
- All about the Walk and Turn Field Sobriety Test
- Requesting a Restricted License in Virginia
- Ignition Interlock Devices & DUI Law
Divorce
General
Switching to Electronic Health Records has Great Benefits, But Poses Liability for Hospitals
In the very near future, all of our medical records may exist only in electronic form. President Bush, in 2004, established a new office within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. He has also set a goal for electronic health records for most Americans by 2014.
Electronic records have many benefits. Physicians will be able to enter notes in text or standard formats, which will lead to more complete documentation; radiology images will be captured in digital form and can be easily transmitted; and computerized order-entry systems will allow physicians to order lab testing and drugs from the pharmacy more easily. Also, the electronic records provide a simple mechanism for giving patients electronic reminders for medication allergies and prescription refills.
Another benefit will be that the patient’s complete medical history will be available to the treating physician. Currently, physicians will only have partial access to the patient’s history because of the patient moving to new areas and difficulties in obtaining full records. With an electronic record, the physician will be able to review the patient’s entire medical history, hopefully cutting down on the rate of misdiagnosis.
The use of electronic health records will also open hospitals up to greater medical malpractice liability. The risk of data loss or destruction, inaccurate data entry, or unauthorized access to medical records all pose risk problems for medical service providers. A look at the early implementation of some of the programs shows that there are many kinks to be worked out of the system. For example, one pediatric health care facility reported a rise in the mortality rate of critically ill children after the installation of a computerized prescriber order-entry system. The time required to input data into the system required that nurses and physicians spend more time away from the patients’ bedsides.
Progress has been slow towards meeting the 2014 goal. This is especially true among solo practitioners and small practices, for whom the overhead costs of electronic upgrades may be too great. Because more than half of America’s physicians practice in one or two-person offices, this is problematic for the program.
The study Health Information Technology in the United States: The Information Base for Progress shows that only about 5% of hospitals are currently using electronic health records. Karen Bell, director of the Office of Health IT Adoption believes it is unlikely that America will achieve Bush’s 2014 goal.
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FAQs
Personal Injury and Automobile Accidents
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Medical Malpractice
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DUI, Traffic and Criminal Law Defense
- Will a traffic court's determination of guilt or innocence affect the outcome of my civil suit for personal injury?
- Does the failure of the police to give the Miranda warnings prior to arrest operate to make your arrest unlawful?
- I have failed my breathalyzer test. What good can an attorney do in such a case?
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Business Litigation
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Divorce
- If your spouse is in the military and you have been married less than ten years, do you have any rights to the military pension?
- Do you have to have the agreement of your spouse to get divorced?
- How is it possible to agree on a divorce with the best possible outcome for both parties?
- Can I and my spouse use the same attorney for our divorce for the purpose of saving money?
- How likely is it for a father to retain custody of the children?