Support our online development, and advance our onground research initiatives in free market economics, as we seek to showcase the brightest Next-Gen minds.
THE ME-P DISCLAIMER: Posts, comments and opinions do not necessarily represent iMBA, Inc., but become our property after submission. Copyright © 2006 to-date. iMBA, Inc allows colleges, universities, medical and financial professionals and related clinics, hospitals and non-profit healthcare organizations to distribute our proprietary essays, photos, videos, audios and other documents; etc. However, please review copyright and usage information for each individual asset before submission to us, and/or placement on your publication or web site. Attestation references, citations and/or back-links are required. All other assets are property of the individual copyright holder.
Physician Errors Do Play a Role — A.I.M.
By Staff Writers
According to a two-year old report in the Annals of Internal Medicine, physician errors are a factor in about 60% of medical malpractice claims that involved patients allegedly injured because of missed or delayed diagnoses.
The B&WH Study
For the study, researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston reviewed 307 claims from four large malpractice insurers that were closed between 1984 and 2004.
181 of the claims involved diagnostic errors that allegedly injured patients; and ignored the outcomes of the claims.
Although most of the claims involved several factors, the major ones involved physician errors.
The Results
According to the study:
-
100 claims involved failure to order appropriate diagnostic tests;
-
81 claims involved failure to establish a plan for appropriate follow-up care;
-
76 claims involved failure to obtain an adequate H&P or PE;
-
67 claims involved improper interpretation of diagnostic tests.
Contributing Factors
The main factors that contributed to the physician errors included failures in judgment (79%), memory problems (59%), lack of knowledge (48%), patient-related issues (46%) and patient handoffs from other physicians (20%).
Conclusion
And so, how does this impact your thoughts on the topic; please comment?
More information: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421/
Share this:
Filed under: Professional Liability | Tagged: Malpractice Liability |
The Leading Business Education Network for Doctors, Financial Advisors and Health Industry Consultants 
91 Percent of U.S. Physicians Practicing ‘Defensive Medicine’
Most American doctors believe their colleagues order more patient tests and procedures than needed, to protect themselves against lawsuits, a new national survey shows.
Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City queried 2,416 physicians and found that 91 percent think this type of “defensive medicine” is the norm. In addition, 90.7 percent of the respondents believe better protection against unwarranted malpractice suits is necessary to reduce the number of unnecessary medical tests.
Source: Bloomberg [6/28/10]
LikeLike