Dentaltown April 2015 - (Page 50)
general practice
feature
MALPRACTICE:
CHANGING THE WAY WE PRACTICE
At the most-recent ADA meeting in San Antonio, I had the
pleasure of hearing Dr. Doug Wolff give a fantastic talk on how
and when to offer sincere apologies to our patients.
Doug was one year ahead of me in dental school and I happened
to be walking by when I noticed his name on the board outside his
hall. I went in to listen, and it turned out to be one of the more
valuable-albeit unexpected-moments of my career. I learned that
empathizing with our patients by saying, "I'm sorry," is the simplest,
most powerful and most sincere way to avoid a malpractice claim.
Personally, I know I constantly bug my patients by asking too
many questions like, "Are you okay?" or "How you doing?" and
reiterating that I'm sorry for things, from the taste of articaine to
the slight discomfort I may cause at the beginning of an injection. I
had never considered, however, that this constant communication
with patients might in fact be lowering my malpractice risk. It's
just been an ingrained habit for me, as I'm sure it is for many of
you. But what if honing this habit of constant, complete communication could protect our practices and reputations even more?
As I left the lecture room that day, I began to think about how
much value good communication adds to our practices and how
most malpractice claims are an indication of a breakdown in either
the patient/doctor relationship or legal documentation (that is, in
50
APRIL 2015 // dentaltown.com
by Bryan Laskin,
DDS
cases that do not involve actual clinical negligence, which sadly
do occur).
In legal terms
True communication goes way beyond the choice of words we
use. Words are known to be the least important aspect of our communication and, of course, undocumented words don't hold much
weight in the eyes of the law. Accurately and properly documenting
patient communication is imperative and it's also one of the larger
challenges we face from a legal standpoint.
The dental chart is the most important legal document in most
malpractice suits, but it's often an overlooked task in the day-today operations of a dental practice. We all know that in the midst
of juggling everything from coping with staff issues to ordering
supplies to doing hygiene checks, it is understandable that complete, legal documentation might fall by the wayside. Nonetheless,
complete record-taking and documentation of the discussions we
have with our patients is essential.
To paraphrase Boyd W. Shepherd, DDS, JD's article, "The Ten
Commandments of Dental/Legal Charting," some of the important aspects of complete charting are as follows:
Continued on p. 52
http://www.dentaltown.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown April 2015
On Dentaltown.com
HOWARD SPEAKS: When Staff Members Lose Hope
PROFESSIONAL COURTESY: Recommendations Refl ect You
Continuing Education Update
Industry News
Poll
Lateral Incisor Placement with CEREC
Oral Cancer: Stop Assuming and Start Screening
CE: Removal of Hemangioma, Fibroma and Performing a Frenectomy
Braces V. Aligners: As Technology Evolves So Do Patient Choices
Malpractice: Changing the Way We Practice
Treatment Planning for Implants in the Maxillary Edentulous Patient
You Should Know: Molar Media Mount
Collecting Trauma Pictures for a Lecture
A Progressive Treatment for the Over-Flared, Over-Prepared Endodontically Treated Tooth
New Products
Creating a Safe, Effective X-ray Practice
SmartBox: Marketing Prodigy Masters Patient Attraction
Facebook Updates and the Impact on Your Dental Practice
Improve a Dental Practice’s Fiscal Health by Proactively Managing A/R Days
Pennsylvania Doc Balances Professionalism and Humor
Ad Index
Product Profile: Ivoclar Vivadent
Perspectives: Being a Female Dentist in Yemen
Products in Practice: DENTSPLY
ULTRASONICS SHOWCASE
Ready, Set, Know: Making the Most of Your Dentrix Investment
Dentally Incorrect
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