Physicians Practice - April 2008 - (Page 26)

THE LAW According to a 2001 study of the 75 largest U.S. counties, conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, medical malpractice plaintiffs win only 27 percent of trial cases — compared to 52 percent for all other plaintiff-won tort trials. Even winning a case is no guarantee the plaintiff will see any real cash forthcoming. Another Justice Department • Be nice. All the time. “Patients are very forgiving if they like you. Communicate. Talk to them. Treat them like they’re human beings,” says defense attorney Scott Nichols, a partner in the Houston ofﬁce of Strasburger & Price. “You’re less likely to get sued, and you’re more likely to have a good result.” information will do nothing to keep communication ﬂowing between the two of you. • Connect with referring specialists. “We often get calls where people say, ‘I could’ve died!’ Well, you didn’t.” NO BIGGIE Jeff Kimmel, attorney study, using data collected on 43,000 closed cases between 2000 and 2004 from Florida, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, and Texas (all of which are required by state law to submit information on closed medical malpractice claims), found that most plaintiff-won claims closed with no compensation to a claimant at all. SHIELDS UP The threat exists, of course, but you really do have a reasonable amount of control over whether you’ll ever be sued. Prevention is key. The steps to avoiding lawsuits are tried and true and bear repeating. Develop relationships with your patients by truly listening to them and validating their concerns. “Try to consider the perspective of the patient. You have knowledge; they have none,” says Kimmel. In these WebMD-centric times, you do have to contend with patients who have read about [insert-frighteningmedical-fact-here] on the Internet thrusting the printout at you to prove it. Is it a valid concern? Maybe, maybe not. Address each instance separately. Help your patients to understand what’s good information and what’s claptrap. Embarrassing them by dismissing out of hand such procured Levine suggests that you make a point to maintain a dialogue with anyone who treats your patient. “Read the report and talk to the person who did the test,” he says. • Become a history buff. Make sure you read your patients’ medical histories completely. “Generally, it’s a little nuance that you missed, and then there’s another little sign,” says Levine. “Take the time, particularly if it’s a new patient transferred to you.” • Document well. “Good, exact notes are the best defense against medical malpractice cases,” says Levine. “You offered a caesarean section, but the patient refused? Write it down.” Include in your notes what you said, what the patient said, any instructions you gave, questions you asked, anything and everything that seems relevant. But for goodness sake, says Kimmel, Never alter any record without indicating it is an addendum. Maybe you really did mean to add that notation about how your patient refused a follow-up mammogram, but it’s too late now. Changing a document is the kiss of death in litigation matters. READ MORE ABOUT IT! Visit PhysiciansPractice.com for more information on how to avoid malpractice suits: WHEN PLAINTIFFS WIN, HOW MUCH ARE THEY AWARDED? TYPE OF TORT CASE Federal employers’ liability Motor vehicles Marine Other personal injury Airplane Assault/libel/slander Medical malpractice Product liability NUMBER OF TRIALS WITH AWARDS TO PLAINTIFF 43 152 55 156 7 10 49 55 MEDIAN AMOUNT AWARDED FOR PLAINTIFF $124,000 $164,000 $203,000 $90,000 Insufﬁcient data $115,000 $600,000 $350,000 •Read dozens of articles and Q&As on malpractice by typing “malpractice” in our Search Site box. •Learn more about the tricky art of apologizing for medical mistakes by typing “Apology Accepted” in our Search Articles box. •Check out our 2008 Buyers Guide for vendors specializing in medical malpractice litigation protection and assistance. Find the Buyers Guide by scrolling down to the lower left-hand corner of our homepage. Source: Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Data Base (Civil), fiscal years, 2002-03. 26 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | APRIL 2008 WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM http://PhysiciansPractice.com http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM

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Physicians Practice - April 2008 Contents The Bigger Picture: Medicare Decision Time Letters Physicians Practice Pearls: Outsource Your Pain Noteworthy Cover Story: Trial Lawyers Tell All Management: When It’s Time to Change Ask the Experts Technology: Do You Know Where Your Data Is? The Tech Doctor: Are Your Discarded PCs Really Clean? Billing & Collections: Playing Hardball The Administrator's Desk: Recruiting for Patient Satisfaction Start It Up: Finance - Mastering the Numbers Game Coding The Great Practice Makeover: Taking Care of Business Associates Classifieds Advertiser Index

Physicians Practice - April 2008

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