ED Legal Letter – September 1, 2011
September 1, 2011
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Dodging the Bullet
In this article, we present a series of actual clinical scenarios that could have turned out differently if the wrong management decision had been made. -
Diagnostic Test Not Ordered? Protect Yourself Legally By Explaining Why
This is the first of a two-part series on liability risks involving ordering of diagnostic tests in the ED. This month, we'll cover the legal ramifications of deciding not to order a test, the legal risks of unexpectedly abnormal results, how ED protocols can help an EP's defense, and a new quality measure that increases liability risks for EPs. -
Unexpected Results of Needless Tests Can Cause Legal Problems
If you don't believe a diagnostic test is truly necessary but you order it anyway, you must be prepared for results to come back unexpectedly abnormal, even if these "incedentalomas" have nothing to do with what brought the patient to the ED, warns Bruce Janiak, MD, professor of emergency medicine at Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. -
Why Did You Order Unnecessary Test? Protocol Is One Defense
If there is absolutely no credible reason to think that a patient's symptoms are due to a heart attack, says John Burton, MD, chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, VA, you shouldn't be ordering tests such as cardiac enzymes. -
Quality Measure Brings Additional Risks for ED
Quality measures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and other groups are putting EPs "in a huge bind," according to Sandra Schneider, MD, professor of emergency medicine at University of Rochester (NY) Medical Center. -
Are Personnel Files, QI, or Incident Reports Discoverable?
Imagine a plaintiff's lawyer poring over stacks of documents provided by the defense as a result of a lawsuit alleging ED malpractice, and finding the statement, "This nurse will eventually kill a patient."