By Vanessa Orr
Every physician wants to avoid lawsuits, yet more than 1,600 medical malpractice lawsuits were filed in Florida in 2022 – more than any other state except California and Texas. But by acting proactively, there are ways that physicians can reduce their risk of going to court.
“While there are many issues that lead to lawsuits – I could list 50, 100 or more – I believe that there are five main reasons that physicians find themselves at risk,” said Bill Gompers, CFE, vice president, Risk Strategies Company | Danna-Gracey. “These include poor communication, lack of informed consent, patient dissatisfaction, a missed or delayed diagnosis, and inadequate or inappropriate medication.
“The good news is that there are at least 10 ways that physicians can reduce that risk, which can lead to fewer lawsuits,” he added.
Poor communication is one of the main things that puts physicians at risk, whether it’s poor communication with patients regarding their condition, prognosis, disease management or more, or communication with other specialists and subspecialists about the patient’s treatment.
“You have to let the patient know that you are there to answer questions and do your best to keep them informed,” said Gompers. “It’s also important that primary care physicians and specialists work together to create a record of the patient’s interactions. Not only do we often see poor communication between PCPs and consulting physicians, but there are also other providers who are not physicians, such as those who work at medispas, who may not do a good job of communicating what they have done. The patient may also not inform their physician.”
Even if a patient signs all of the forms a practice provides, lack of informed consent can still be a problem if the patient has not been informed by the provider about the risks and benefits of treatment and given the opportunity to ask questions. “While it may seem that the patient is signing their rights away, it is not really true informed consent without the total knowledge and acknowledgement of the patient, and very few patients truly understand what they’re signing in such voluminous documents,” said Gompers.
The majority of patients will also avoid filing lawsuits if they like their caregivers and the practice environment. “The old adage, ‘Patients that are content don’t sue,’ is true,” said Gompers. “It’s a big leap for them to formally accuse someone they like of doing something wrong. If there is trust and open communication between a doctor and patient, a lawsuit is usually not going to happen.”
One of the main reasons for a lawsuit from a technical standpoint is a miss or delay in diagnosis and/or treatment. This goes back to poor communication, and the lack of a formal mechanism in place to ensure that when a doctor is communicating with another provider or the patient, that they follow up and request a response or some way to verify that the person received the information.
“If a physician tells a patient what to do and then fails to follow up, even though it’s the patient’s responsibility to get treatment in a timely manner, the physician still needs to document what they did,” said Gompers. “Hindsight is 20/20.”
When treating patients, medication, prescription, and non-prescription reconciliation is also extremely important as inadequate or inappropriate medication can cause drug interactions, which in turn can result in poor results and lawsuits. “This is not only when a specialist orders something and doesn’t document and inform the primary care doctor, but also when patients are not forthright about what they are taking, such as over-the-counter medications that can interact with prescription medicines,” said Gompers.
So how does a physician avoid these medical malpractice pitfalls? Gompers advises physicians to make the following 10 benchmarks a practice priority:
- Communication
- Documentation
- Continuous education and training with staff.
- Adherence to global best practices standards and guidelines.
- Adequate staffing and supervision of staff.
- Following a system where the staff feels confident reporting all issues, including mistakes, without fear of punitive actions.
- Quality assurance and peer review. Have a process in place to review what you do.
- Establish a culture that includes staff meetings to review policies and practices.
- Have a qualified and experienced healthcare attorney.
- Have a robust insurance program to protect you, and work with an agent or agency that knows healthcare liability insurance.
To learn more about how to proactively lower your risk of lawsuits, contact Bill Gompers at bill@dannagracey.com, (888) 777-7173 or visit www.dannagracey.com.
