REVIEW
Malpractice in Emergency Medicine-A Review of Risk and Mitigation Practices for the Emergency Medicine Provider.
Journal of Emergency Medicine 2018 November
BACKGROUND: Malpractice in emergency medicine is of high concern for medical providers, the fear of which continues to drive decision-making. The body of evidence evaluating risk specific to emergency physicians is disjointed, and thus it remains difficult to derive cohesive themes and strategies for risk minimization.
OBJECTIVE: This review evaluates the state of malpractice in emergency medicine and summarizes a concise approach for the emergency physician to minimize risk.
DISCUSSION: The environment of the emergency department (ED) represents moderate overall malpractice risk and yields a heavy burden in finance and time. Key areas of relatively high litigation occurrence include missed acute myocardial infarction, missed fractures/foreign bodies, abdominal pain/appendicitis, wounds, intracranial bleeding, aortic aneurysm, and pediatric meningitis. Mitigation of risk is best accomplished through constructive communication, intelligent documentation, utilization of clinical practice guidelines and generalizable diagnoses, careful management of discharge against medical advice, and establishing follow-up for diagnostic studies ordered while in the ED (especially x-ray studies). Communication breakdown seems to be more predictive of malpractice litigation than injury experienced.
CONCLUSIONS: There are consistent diagnoses that are associated with increased litigation incidence. A combination of mitigation approaches may assist providers in mitigation of malpractice risk.
OBJECTIVE: This review evaluates the state of malpractice in emergency medicine and summarizes a concise approach for the emergency physician to minimize risk.
DISCUSSION: The environment of the emergency department (ED) represents moderate overall malpractice risk and yields a heavy burden in finance and time. Key areas of relatively high litigation occurrence include missed acute myocardial infarction, missed fractures/foreign bodies, abdominal pain/appendicitis, wounds, intracranial bleeding, aortic aneurysm, and pediatric meningitis. Mitigation of risk is best accomplished through constructive communication, intelligent documentation, utilization of clinical practice guidelines and generalizable diagnoses, careful management of discharge against medical advice, and establishing follow-up for diagnostic studies ordered while in the ED (especially x-ray studies). Communication breakdown seems to be more predictive of malpractice litigation than injury experienced.
CONCLUSIONS: There are consistent diagnoses that are associated with increased litigation incidence. A combination of mitigation approaches may assist providers in mitigation of malpractice risk.
Full text links
Trending Papers
Fluid Resuscitation in Patients with Cirrhosis and Sepsis: A Multidisciplinary Perspective.Journal of Hepatology 2023 March 2
Management of Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction in Elderly Patients: Effectiveness and Safety.Curēus 2023 Februrary
EULAR recommendations for the management of ANCA-associated vasculitis: 2022 update.Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2023 March 17
Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 Receptor Agonists Versus Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors for Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes.Cardiology Research 2023 Februrary
What's New in the Treatment of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD).Journal of Clinical Medicine 2023 Februrary 27
BTS clinical statement on aspiration pneumonia.Thorax 2023 Februrary
Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university
For the best experience, use the Read mobile app
Read by QxMD is copyright © 2021 QxMD Software Inc. All rights reserved. By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.
Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university
For the best experience, use the Read mobile app