Page 64 - 2022 Risk Basics - Surgical Practice

SVMIC Risk Basics: Surgical Practice

Failure to adequately reconcile medications is a frequent and

easily preventable discharge issue. Patients should be verbally
instructed on the discontinuation of any home medications

and rationale for saying if a discharge medication is intended
to replace a medication the patient previously took prior to

admission. The new prescription should be noted as such.

Patients should be personally instructed of potential side
effects and complications with newly prescribed medications;

for example, informed consent and detailed counseling for a

patient given newly prescribed high-risk medication
combinations of benzodiazepines and opioids or the use of

sedatives in a patient with known alcohol or substance use
disorder. As always, that discussion should be documented.

Medications

You might be surprised that 13 percent of SVMIC’s surgical

claims were related to medication errors. The reality is that
medication errors are the number one overall risk issue in paid

claims across all specialties at SVMIC, which lends credibility
to the importance of identifying strategies to reduce

medication errors across all specialties.

Medication errors are generally viewed as preventable errors;
therefore, risk management of medications is a focus of

malpractice prevention. Some examples of such medication

errors are as follows:

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