By Brett Kelman More than four years ago, Tennessee nurse RaDonda Vaught typed two letters into a hospital’s computerized medication cabinet, selected the wrong drug from the search results, and gave a patient a fatal dose. Vaught was prosecuted this…
Hospitals across the country are struggling to handle rising costs for staff, drugs, and supplies, the American Hospital Association reports. During the Covid pandemic, labor costs per patient rose 19% from 2019 to 2021. Meanwhile, the prices for supplies jumped…
By Blake Farmer The hulking Hickory Hollow Mall — a full 1.1 million square feet of retail space in southeastern Nashville — was once the largest shopping center in Tennessee. But like many malls, it’s been in a downward death spiral for…
State supreme courts in both Massachusetts and Iowa ruled that businesses cannot recoup losses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic through property insurance policies. Last Thursday, April 21, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court became the first state supreme court to say…
Families of nursing home residents who died from Covid-19 are bringing a torrent of negligence and wrongful death lawsuits against the long-term care facilities, according to reports. Spurred by a repeal of liability protections and statutory deadlines, the Wall Street…
Ransomware is no longer a concern exclusively for major health systems. Small regional hospitals and specialty clinics are also facing a barrage of malicious cyberattacks. The number of health care providers reporting cyber incidents rises almost daily, according to a…
By Brett Kelman and Hannah Norman, Kaiser Health News Emma Moore felt cornered. At a community health clinic in Portland, Oregon, the 29-year-old nurse practitioner said she felt overwhelmed and undertrained. Coronavirus patients flooded the clinic for two years, and…
Americans experienced a massive increase in cyber attacks in 2021, costing more than $6.9 billion, according to the FBI’s annual Internet Crime Report. The report, released this week, found a jump of potential losses of more than $2 billion compared to…
By Brett Kelman | KHN.org NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Four years ago, inside the most prestigious hospital in Tennessee, nurse RaDonda Vaught withdrew a vial from an electronic medication cabinet, administered the drug to a patient, and somehow overlooked signs of…
Staffing shortages became the top concern for hospital CEOs in 2021, overtaking financial challenges, according to an annual survey from the American College of Healthcare Executives. It is the first time since 2004 that financial challenges fell out of the top…
