ED Legal Letter – February 1, 2019
February 1, 2019
View Issues
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ED Communication Breakdowns True Cause of Many Malpractice Lawsuits
According to the authors of a recent analysis, risk-reducing tactics include conveying uncertainty to patients (if appropriate), ensuring incidental findings are communicated, and auditing compliance with policies on critical findings.
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Shared Decision-Making in ED Mitigates Malpractice Risk
Three groups of participants read a conversation and were asked to imagine they had been part of that conversation and then experienced an adverse outcome. In the two groups' conversations that included some level of shared decision-making, participants were 80% less likely to report a plan to contact a lawyer.
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New E-Triage Tools Unlikely to Face Standard of Care Challenge
New e-triage tools have produced some solid data demonstrating their validity. But what are the liability implications for EDs who are early adopters?
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Is EMR to Blame for Bad Outcome? Possible Liability Exists for EP, Hospital, and Vendor
Not uncommonly, an ED patient’s bad outcome can be traced back in some way to the EMR. If so, multiple parties may find themselves defendants in malpractice litigation. Insiders break down some factors one can use when determining who is ultimately found liable.
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Negligence or Innocent Mistake? Either Can Trigger Investigation of ED Nurse
The best way for an ED nurse to protect his or her license against both disciplinary action and malpractice allegations? Practice according to the standard of care with every patient encounter.
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After Malpractice Allegations, EP Productivity Decreases
One researchers says the results of one study suggest legal reforms surrounding damage caps may not fully address liability pressure for physicians and other healthcare providers. In other ongoing work, investigators are studying whether EPs adjusted practice patterns equally for all patient types after a malpractice litigation, or whether EPs used information from the allegation to adjust care for clinically relevant patients.
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Speech Recognition Technology for EDs May Increase Malpractice Risks
Seven out of 100 words in speech recognition-generated documents contain errors, many of which involve clinical information, according to the authors of a recent study.