Physician Risk Management 2012-10-01

'Defensive' ordering of procedures, tests can increase your legal risks

If physicians order diagnostic tests or procedures believing that "defensive" medicine will protect them legally, they might find themselves named in a malpractice suit as a result, warns Kathryn Wire, JD, MBA, president and principal consultant at Kathryn Wire Risk Strategies, a St. Louis, MO, firm specializing in healthcare risk management and former director of risk and claims for two St. Louis health systems.

Your state medical board contacts you? Don't go it alone

According to the most recent data from the National Practitioner Data Bank, the number of medical malpractice suit payments has steadily declined from 2001 to 2011 while the number of adverse actions taken against physicians by state medical boards has steadily increased.

Patient callbacks can decrease legal risks

During a telephone call to a congestive heart failure (CHF) patient who was discharged after an emergency department (ED) visit, it wasn't so much what the patient said that was alarming as how she sounded, reports Stephanie J. Baker, RN, MBA/HCM, CEN.

Sued doctors usually in jury verdicts

Physicians come out on the winning end of 80% of malpractice claims that end in jury verdicts, and slightly over half of cases reaching trial are dismissed by the court, according to a new study of more than 10,000 closed malpractice claims that occurred between 2002 and 2005.1 Only about five out of every 100 claims that are litigated involve a jury verdict.

Abuse suspected? Take these actions, or risk lawsuits

A physician fails to recognize signs of probable abuse, and the child is subsequently harmed.

Nursing notes overlooked? Legal price could be costly

Nursing notes often are ignored or, at best, casually reviewed by physicians, says Sam Bierstock, MD, founder of Champions in Healthcare, a consulting company in Delray Beach, FL, specializing in healthcare information technology.

Fewer new claims expected with disclosure

Due to newly passed legislation, physicians throughout Massachusetts soon will be able to utilize a Disclosure, Apology, and Offer process, with the goal of shifting away from "the 'blame and deny' culture of secrecy, in which nobody learns from the adverse incident," reports Alan Woodward, MD, chair of the Massachusetts Medical Society's Committee on Professional Liability.

Physician Legal Review & Commentary: Knee disfigurement following surgery resultsin a jury verdict of $12.7 million

ews: In 2003, the plaintiff, then 15 years old, underwent knee surgery with the defendant physician. Following the surgery, the physician prescribed a cold-therapy device, which was made by the defendant product manufacturer.

Physician Legal Review & Commentary: Failure to diagnose necrotizing fasciitis yields $1.53 million jury verdict

News: On May 8, 2008, a 38-year old man presented to a health clinic complaining of a cyst near his rectal area that had expanded to the testicles.

Physician Risk Management – October 1, 2012

October 1, 2012