IP - Professional Liability and Medical Malpractice 3-5pgs not including title pg

Malpractice Influence on Health Care

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Activity #1

How well could you train others in the basics of malpractice insurance? Identify

the true statements.

1. Misfeasance is performing an act that is wrong and damaging.

2. Punitive damages are to punish the offender.

3. Medical professional liability is a term preferred by HC providers for medical

malpractice insurance.

4. Res ipsa loquitur is a common knowledge doctrine where no expert witness

is needed in trial.

5. Nonfeasance is when a practitioner is trained in what to do but fails to act at

a time when he/she should.

6. To prove negligence, these must be proven: damages, deliberation, defect,

and duty of care owed.

7. States can also prosecute a healthcare practitioner under criminal law

8. Malfeasance is performing an act, which may be well-intentioned but is technically illegal.

The true statements are 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7.

Activity #2

Review court cases to ensure you realize what kind of actions can make the

practitioners of your medical facility liable.

A surgeon reads the only records available for an institutionalized patient's

surgery and sees that he is to operate on a hernia on the right side of the

man's body. As he looks at the man, he sees a left hernia bulge. He repairs the

right, however, under the record's directive. The records were incorrect. The

patient sued the state. Was the surgeon liable for anything? If so, what?

Here is the model answer:

In this New York court case, the plaintiff won and the surgeon's license was

revoked for negligence. The surgeon failed to adequately examine the inmate

and evaluate him medically before the operation. He also relied solely on the one record instead of obtaining a full medical history

A man receives surgical grafts in his arms for catheterization. After the grafts

were removed, on two occasions in the hospital he bled. The bleeding was

stopped, the patient was observed for several days, then sent home with

instructions on how to apply pressure to the arms if bleeding occurred again.

Malpractice Influence on Health Care

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He was also instructed to call the doctor if bleeding reoccurred.

When he returned home, he bled twice. When he applied pressure the bleeding

stopped, so he did not feel it was worth contacting the physician. The next day

his wife left the house to go to the pharmacy, and when she returned 30 minutes later, she found her husband had bled to death.

The wife sued for wrongful death. Whose responsibility was the patient's death?

The patient

The doctor

Both

The correct answer is: both. The court ruled, and it was upheld upon appeal

that the death was 50% patient responsibility and 50% the doctor's

responsibility. The patient failed to call the doctor after the bleeding as

instructed. The doctor failed to give adequate instructions to the patient: The

patient was not warned of the seriousness of the bleeding episodes and that he should have someone with him at all times

Activity #3

A new healthcare associate in your organization comes to you to make sure she

correctly understands her benefits and responsibilities. She asks, "In this

orientation material, I see that our organization already covers me with medical

malpractice insurance. So that's a relief, and one thing I don't have to worry about paying for on my own, right?"

How would you answer?

The model answer is: The question is whether the coverage is adequate. Get a

professional risk assessment to help you decide if you should get additional

insurance.