Lawsuit claims surgeon’s poor sight caused injury
A California neurosurgeon and the facility where he operated are being sued by a patient who says the doctor’s failing eyesight led to a permanent brain injury.
Mike Dogali, MD, was head of neurology at the UCI Medical Center in Santa Ana, CA, when he performed a pallidotomy on 67-year-old Claude Herring, who has Parkinson’s disease. The man claims he was left with permanent brain damage and that Dogali botched the operation because he has glaucoma. The surgeon resigned his position three months after the surgery, saying the glaucoma limited his ability to operate.
Officials of the medical center refused to comment on the case. Dogali has stated publicly that his glaucoma was not bad enough to affect his ability to operate until after Herring’s procedure and that pallidotomy is a computer-controlled procedure that does not require perfect vision. t
Health care attorneys launch Web site
Risk management resources and health care attorneys can be found on line at the new World Wide Web site of the American Academy of Healthcare Attorneys (AAHA) in Chicago.
The AAHA is a bar association within the American Hospital Association. The new Web site is designed to provide risk managers and attorneys easy access to the AAHA’s publications, practice guides, and other resources, as well as allowing contact with attorneys specializing in health care issues. The AAHA Web page is at http://www.aaha.org. t
Patients care about how you treat them
"Interpersonal issues" such as the attitude and caring behavior of hospital staff have more effect on a patient’s satisfaction with treatment than the actual health care provided, according to a recent survey by Press, Ganey Associates, a patient satisfaction consulting firm in South Bend, IN.
The company surveyed more than 1 million patients at 545 hospitals in 44 states to determine what factors were most influential in whether a patient was satisfied with a hospital stay. The survey asked about a wide range of issues including nursing staff, physicians, food, and accommodations. These were the top 10 issues that affected patient satisfaction, with the most influential at number one:
1. Staff sensitivity to the inconvenience that health problems and hospitalization can cause.
2. Overall cheerfulness of the hospital.
3. Staff’s concern for the patient’s privacy.
4. Amount of attention paid to the patient’s special or personal needs.
5. Degree to which nurses took the patient’s health problem seriously.
6. Technical skill of nurses.
7. Nurses’ attitude about being called by the patient.
8. Degree to which the nurses kept the patient informed about tests, treatment, and equipment.
9. "Friendliness" of nurses.
10. Promptness in responding to the call button.
Irwin Press, PhD, co-director of the consulting firm, says the results mean that hospitals must encourage an empathetic attitude from nurses. Patients tend to expect and accept limited quality in terms of food and other amenities when they are hospitalized, but they have very high expectations in terms of staff sensitivity.
Although "friendliness" of nurses still ranks high on the list of influential factors, he says, it is far behind more specific factors such as concern for the patient’s privacy. That means that simply smiling at the patient and assuming a friendly demeanor is not enough. A smile is nice, but the staff also must recognize and act on the patient’s concerns.
For more information, contact Press, Ganey Associates, Commerce Drive, South Bend, IN 46628. Telephone: (219) 232-3387.
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