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A number of important legal rulings have held that attendings are not responsible for the acts of other health care professionals. But they must assign tasks appropriate to the individual's range of capabilities and provide adequate supervision. Where a resident is permitted to perform a procedure or oversee a course of treatment, these cases show that the patient and the courts will expect that the resident is at a level of training and experience to adequately do so.
Even the best care in medicine can be undermined when responsibility for the patient is transferred from one provider to the next. Hand-offs—both within the hospital and upon discharge—are the subject of increasing attention by malpractice insurers and patient safety researchers.
A 55-year-old male suffered a sudden cardiac arrest, resulting in severe neurologic deficits, following an ED visit, admission, and transfer, in which heart evaluation was recommended but never done. CONTINUE READING >
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September 1, 2006
Study shows most non-meritorious claims don’t pay, and claims involving medical errors account for vast majority of administrative costs.
May 1, 2008
The Triggers Rapid Response process has helped to enhance collaborative communication by standardizing the expectations for response when a patient becomes unstable. The criteria and the naming of the program with the “trigger” phrase provides rule-based communication that eliminates ambiguity in the expected response.
QUICK VIEW Case Study
March 27, 2009
A 72-year-old woman, who presented to her PCP with symptoms that he attributed to her leukemia, suffered a complete loss of vision in one eye following a delayed diagnosis of temporal arteritis.
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September 1, 2010
The mantra that has long conjoined malpractice and patient safety is that “good practice is defensible, especially if it’s documented.” The flip side of that axiom is, of course, “if it’s not documented, then it didn't happen.”