First Healthcare Compliance CONNECT November 2022

efficacy began to be studied. And the studies that
came out even 20-30 years ago, are still relevant
today because of some of the safety and patient
care issues that were highlighted at that time. For
example, the mislabeling of drugs, the improperly
filling of dispensing cabinets, the lack of safety
record procedures, numbers of doses dispensed,
and the ability to override system access tracking.
Today, now more than ever, and especially with the
advent of the HIPAA Security Rule, which has been
in effect since 2005, and then we now have the
HITECH Act, in effect, the HIPAA Omnibus Rule, and
then we have other laws and the related regulations
as well, such as the Cybersecurity Act of 2015,
all of which espouse the requirements of having
adequate technical, administrative, and physical
safeguards.
One of the most fundamental safeguards is user
ID and unique user password. There should be for
every individual accessing a cabinet, there needs to
be an individual user ID and password. Alternatively,
some types of these devices use a biometric or
fingerprint. And from there, organizations really
need to look at two-factor identification. These
are areas which can create significant liability, not
only from a cybersecurity standpoint, but more
importantly, from a patient care standpoint, which is
one of the issues in the RaDonda Vaught case.
Tell me about the role of the Automatic
Dispensing Cabinet and the facts of the
RaDonda Vaught case?
What’s interesting is that there was a quote that
was made by her attorney that said, while it’s not
all her fault, meaning all his client’s fault, there
are some real systemic problems with the way a
medical center dispenses medicine through the
automated dispensing systems. And so, in this
case unfortunately, the nurse, the defendant, did
have personal errors. It wasn’t solely the fault of
the ADC. However, there were a lack of technical,
administrative, and physical safeguards, there was
a lack of check and balance. And that led to Ms.
Murphy the patient, dying as a result of this error.
So, our players in this case are Ms. Murphy, the
deceased patient, RaDonda Vaught, the nurse and
defendant, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
(“Medical Center”), the district attorney, who
The Most Comprehensive
Healthcare Compliance Course
The Fundamentals is a user-friendly, four-module
online course designed to help healthcare professionals
understand the essential principles and practices of
compliance.
BUY COURSE NOW
Contact Toll Free: 888-54-FIRST 9