Happy? MDs Rate Selves, Share Secrets

Communication errors in medmal cases are expensive and becoming more frequent among patients and providers. A new data report from Candello in the Harvard medical community looks at the increasing role played by communication failures, and how more complicated care in the outpatient setting means more complicated communication between providers and patients.

If a clinician is sued for medical malpractice and the case never goes to trial, they dodged a bullet right? A physician defendant shares what it was like to be sued, and going through all the ups and downs of defending himself against charges of negligence before the unexpected happened. His patient dropped the case just before trial.

For primary care clinicians, a top risk area is related to allegations of delayed diagnosis of cancer. Data in the Harvard system show that the top three cancers in primary care litigation are prostate, lung, and breast cancer. Harvard’s Marc Garnick, MD is a national expert on prostate cancer and liability sharing how to communicate with patients about risks and benefits of testing and interventions to minimize allegations of negligence.