Maryland hospitals recommend malpractice attorneys
Some 2 dozen Maryland hospitals including the University of Maryland Medical System are referring injured patients to plaintiff lawyers. The goal is to settle claims more quickly, a potential benefit to both the patient and the institution. Despite the appearance of a conflict of interest, it is not unethical by ABA. [Editor’s Note: The article in the Baltimore newspaper is no longer available online, but I have been told by both plaintiff and defense med-mal attorneys that it is always best to have a well-qualified opponent. Whether this system assures that or not remains an open question. /cp]
Discharge instructions: Patients get them, but do they GET them?
While every patient discharged from the ED should receive instructions on followup care, not all understand those instructions. This was discussed in a “Perspective” in the August 2011 issue of this Bulletin. Now, Bogenstatter et al. have reinforced previous studies in finding that only 43% of patients left the ED correctly informed about diagnosis, planned examinations and followup. They correctly recalled 82% of information received about diagnosis, 56% about examinations planned and 72% about follow-up treatments. Information related to medication was most often forgotten or misunderstood. Despite this lack of comprehension, patient satisfaction was high (4.7 on a 5-point scale).
Providing futile care is not malpractice
Some have argued that providing care when there is no expectation of value is malpractice. In a NY case, an obstetrician performing an emergency C-Section after a sudden fetal demise could not be sued for attempting to save the baby’s life. Suit was filed against the hospital for the demise, but also against the operating surgeon for attempting an “unnecessary procedure.” The defendant doctor, acting only in the emergency, had not been involved in events leading up to the demise. The latter claim was dismissed, with the court deciding that the defendant surgeon “could not have concluded the fetus was beyond help, based solely on the inability to detect a heartbeat.”
EMRs may create additional legal liability for physicians.
Here’s another article on the risks of EMRs in medical practice. Data breaches and audit trails continue to take their toll, with the metadata sometimes helping, often hurting defendant physicians, and rapidly raising the costs of discovery by forensic technicians. “Did the doctor actually see the lab results?” is now a provable question.