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giving rise to the claim. In the case of any pregnant mother, the term “patient” herein shall mean both the mother and the mother’s expected child or children. ARTICLE 3: Procedures Within fifteen days after a party to this agreement has given written notice to the other of demand for arbitration of a dispute or controversy, the parties to the dispute or controversy shall each appoint an arbitrator and give notice of such appointment to the other. Within a reasonable time after such notices have been given the two arbitrators so selected shall select a neutral arbitrator and give notice of the selection thereof to the parties. The arbitrators shall hold a hearing within a reasonable time from the date of notice of selection of the neutral arbitrator.Expenses of the arbitration shall be shared equally by the parties to this agreement. Except as herein provided, the arbitration shall be conducted and governed by the provisions of the Florida Arbitration Code, Florida Statutes s. 682.01 et. seq.In the event that any party to this agreement refuses to go forward with arbitration, the party compelling arbitration reserves the right to proceed with arbitration, the appointment of an arbitrator, and hearings to resolve the dispute, despite the refusal to participate or absence of the opposing party. Submission of any dispute under this agreement to arbitration may only be avoided by a valid court order, indicating that the dispute is beyond the scope of the arbitration agreement, or contains an illegal aspect precluding the resolution of the dispute by arbitration. Any party to this agreement who refuses to go forward with arbitration hereby acknowledges that the arbitrator will go forward with the arbitration hearing and render a binding decision without the participation of the party opposing arbitration or despite its absence at the arbitration hearing. ARTICLE 4: Patient’s Right to Cancel Arbitration Agreement The patient has the right to rescind this agreement by written notice to the provider of medical services within _____ days after the agreement has been signed and executed. The patient may rescind by merely writing “cancelled” on the face of one of his copies of the agreement, signing his name under such word, and mailing, by certified mail, return receipt requested, such copy to the provider of medical services with such _____ day period. ARTICLE 5: Arbitration as Exclusive Remedy With respect to any dispute or controversy that is made subject to arbitration under the terms of this agreement, no suit at law or in equity based on such dispute or controversy shall be instituted by either party, except to enforce the award of the arbitrators. ARTICLE 6: Death of Party not to Affect Submission This submission shall not be withdrawn or affected by the death of either of the parties pending a final award, but the executor, administrator, or other representative of the party shall be deemed to be a party to this submission made, any rule of law or equity to the contrary notwithstanding. The parties agree that this agreement is to be binding on the parties’ assigns, heirs, executors, and administrators. ARTICLE 7: Acknowledgements We grade all tests in a timely manner; so if you do not receive your certificate within five days, please send an email to accesseducation@nycap.rr.com.There is no time limit for return of your answer sheet. Completion dates are taken from the test answer sheet envelope postmark or the finish date recorded in the computer when you do an online exam, and must be in the licensing cycle you wish to use the credits. If you are dissatisfied with the course for any reason, please return the printed materials within 30 days of purchase and we will refund your full tuition. Shipping charges are nonrefundable. If someone else would like to use this material after you are done, he or she may register with us and take advantage of the “sharing discount” workbook tuition charge. Courses downloaded from the Internet can be shared at the same tuition rate as currently available on our website. Please call us if you need an extra answer sheet or download one from our website. There is no “sharing discount” for online exams. The author and Access Continuing Education, Inc. have made every effort to include information in this course that is factual and conforms to accepted standards of care. This course is not to be used as a sole reference for treatment decisions. It is your responsibility to understand your legal obligations and license requirements when treating patients. Access Continuing Education, Inc. is not responsible for the misuse of information presented in this course. The material in this course cannot be reproduced or transmitted in any way without the written consent of Access Continuing Education, Inc.The safety of the patients in our care and treatment is an important goal during all healthcare encounters. Early studies in the 1960s already pointed to healthcare related errors as a problem for healthcare consumers. However, it was the startling report in 1999, from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) To Err is Human, that served as a wake-up call for healthcare professionals, multiple public and private healthcare and healthcare-related organizations, state legislatures and the federal government. The IOM report estimated that between 44,000 and 98,000 deaths annually are a result of medical errors; more than half of the adverse medical events occurring each year are due to preventable medical errors, causing the death of tens of thousands. The cost associated with these errors in lost income, disability, and healthcare costs is as much as $29 billion annually. In a study on hospital pneumonia rates and sepsis rates (Eber, et. al , 2010), researchers looked at data from 59 million discharges, covering 40 of the 50 US states between 1998 and 2006. Patients who developed sepsis after surgery had to stay in the hospital on average nearly 11 days extra, at a cost of $32,900 per patient. Just under 20% of these patients died. Pneumonia patients stayed in the hospital an extra 14 days after surgery, at a cost of $46,400, and more than 11% of those patients died. In the State of Florida, registered nurses and licensed practical nurses must complete 2 hours of continuing education related to the Prevention of Medical Errors in each 2-year licensure renewal period. Access Continuing Education, Inc. is a Florida-approved provider of continuing education for nurses, provider # 50-7628. Successfully completing this course will meet the Florida Board of Nursing requirement. Scope of the Problem Since the 1999 IOM report was issued, the issue of patient safety has been in the forefront of the healthcare literature, with multiple healthcare organizations putting significant resources into safety interventions. According to the national study, Third Annual Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study (p. 4, 2006): Approximately 1.24 million total patient safety incidents occurred in almost 40 million hospitalizations in the Medicare population. These incidents were associated with $9.3 billion of excess cost during 2002 through 2004. For the second year in a row, patient safety incidents have increased - up from 1.14 and 1.18 million reported in the First and Second Annual Patient Safety in American Hospitals studies, respectively. Of the 304,702 deaths that occurred among patients who developed one or more patient safety incidents, 250,246 were potentially preventable. There is a helpful poster that lists which diseases must be reported to the county health department along with the reporting timeframe and other helpful information available on the Department of Health’s website under Practitioner List of Reportable Diseases at: This article is presented for educational purposes only and should not be taken as a substitute for legal advice, which should be obtained from personal legal counsel. Nevertheless, the FMA hopes that the information provided here and in its other publications continues to assist physicians in answering many of their most common legal questions allowing them to treat patients, instead of addressing legal concerns. Last Update: February 2013 (EMTALA) Provision of Emergency On-Call Services by