Written by Sarah Lim, CA Lic# 0M52397

5 Ways to Avoid Malpractice Lawsuits

Understandably, physicians worry about getting sued for malpractice, and even though the number of lawsuits has declined in recent years, malpractice payouts have increased by almost 3 percent. 

Though the statistics on the number of lawsuits are daunting, some things can be done to minimize the chances of being sued, and one is understanding the real reason for the lawsuit.  By doing so, physicians can even improve the odds of a favorable outcome if they are being sued. 

The critical thing to remember is that most malpractice suits are not about money.  Instead, malpractice lawsuits are more about finding out what went wrong, who is liable, and seeing that it doesn’t happen to other people.

1.     Establish Trusting and Open Relationships with Patients

Excellent communication skills with lots of face time with your patients is the start to building a trusting and open relationship with them.  Patients who trust their doctors are more likely to share important personal information that would be necessary for the doctor to diagnose and treat them correctly.  This information could include drug use or sexual history.  Trusting their doctors would also help patients stick to the medication plan issued as well as follow through with any recommended follow-up tests and procedures.  Many patient plaintiffs also state that a big motivator behind their lawsuits is that the doctor did not spend enough time with them or felt that the doctor was not listening to them.  Therefore, using scribes to record and enter data will allow you to use the valuable time during the office visit to focus solely on your patient.

2.     Effective Communication is Key

Effective oral and written communication is critical in supporting a doctor’s case if they are ever sued.  Just being able to correctly diagnose a patient is not enough. You also need to be able to communicate the diagnosis in a way that makes your patient feel confident that you know what you’re doing.  A critical factor in many claims is the lack of communication between the patient and the physician.  Written explanations for referrals and detailed interpretations of lab results provide clear documentation of patient visits, which can only help your case. 

3.     Document the Patient’s Visit as Soon as Possible

If you get sued, one of the first things your malpractice lawyer will need to do is to recreate the circumstances.  This is difficult to do if a lawsuit arises years later, and there is not enough detail to go on.  If a diagnosis is questioned, having documentation that accurately reflects the use of a thoughtful and systemic approach to arrive at that diagnosis will most likely make the doctor’s plan seem reasonable rather than negligent. 

4.     Consider the Culture of Your Practice

When members of the practice team are treated as equals to the physicians, they are more open to asking questions and offering suggestions.  By having the benefit of different brains thinking about the patient, the practice culture can decrease the medical malpractice risk.  Another way to minimize malpractice risk is to create and follow protocols that ensure patient safety and maintain clear and open communication.  Train staff to know which patients' questions to answer and which to refer to the doctors. Create a system that confirms whether or not a patient has followed through on referrals and recommended procedures. 

5.     Refer When Necessary

Primary care doctors are especially at risk of getting into legal trouble if they don’t make referrals when necessary.  Sometimes patients see their primary care physician with the same symptoms, and the doctor does not seek help from other specialized physicians.  Usually, if all standard remedies don’t work, it’s time to move the patient to a specialist to find the actual cause of the problem.  Also, the physician must document when a referral is made as well as follow up with the patient. If the patient doesn’t go to the referred doctor, this needs to be documented as well. 

Even though this may seem obvious, the ultimate way to avoid malpractice lawsuits is to put the patient at the center of everything you do.  Make sure to input or access information that is critical to the patient’s health. By failing to do so, that information isn't communicated to any other providers involved in the patient’s care.