Prepare a power point presentation to explain Seven Reasons Family Doctors Get Sued and How to Reduce
Question:
Prepare a power point presentation to explain Seven Reasons Family Doctors Get Sued and How to Reduce Your Risk
With medical malpractice insurance premiums rising sharply across the nation and at least a dozen states facing an insurance crisis, physicians and policymakers are debating vigorously how best to respond. Tort reforms that would cap awards are among the proposals and have proven effective at moderating premiums in several states. But while physicians await legislative action or an upturn in the economy to soften the impact of insurance hikes, there is something doctors can do: better manage risk.
Risk management involves more than just reading a journal article, listening to a lecture or filling out a workbook. It is a style of practice that endeavors, first and foremost, to prevent patient injuries; second, to avoid malpractice claims; and third, when a claim does occur, to reduce malpractice claim losses.
First prevent patient injury
A while back, I was involved in the care of a four-year-old boy who was admitted with status asthmatics. He was very ill, requiring intubation and ventilator support. We were at his bedside literally breath by breath through the night. The child bounced back, fortunately, as children often do, and within three days he was home.
The following week at grand rounds, the senior resident presented the case. I opened the question and answer session that followed by asking the group, “How did we fail this boy?” A long silence ensued. One of the second-year residents responded, “I don’t understand what you’re talking about. You saved this kid’s life. At every turn you made exactly the right decision.”
And I said, “Yes, but how did we fail this boy?”
Finally, a first-year resident raised her hand and offered, “Well, he shouldn’t have been in status asthmatics in the first place.” And that’s the answer.
One of the things physicians need to ask whenever a patient is admitted to the hospital is “How did the outpatient management fail?” In this instance, should we have spent more time with the child’s mother, emphasizing how important certain environmental changes were for her son? Was this a medication compliance problem? Develop a routine of reviewing the sequence of care for unexpected or unwanted outcomes. While we weren’t negligent for anything we had done in the care of this boy – indeed, our hospital care was excellent – we had failed to prevent an avoidable condition, status asthmatics. Our failure violated rule number one of risk management: prevent patient injury.
Modern Database Management
ISBN: 978-0133544619
12th edition
Authors: Jeff Hoffer, Ramesh Venkataraman, Heikki Topi