Page 7 - 2022 Risk Basics - Surgical Practice

SVMIC Risk Basics: Surgical Practice

Introduction

This course will review an array of risk management issues

pertaining to surgical practice, using actual case examples to
create a more meaningful review and enhance understanding

and retention. It is designed to focus on practical issues seen
in SVMIC claims data. The money and personal commitment

you’ve made to becoming a physician can be imperiled by a

single incident creating a long, costly, and stressful situation.
This course will guide you through some preventative steps

before they result in patient harm that will not only improve

patient safety but also reduce your chances of being named in
a malpractice suit. This course will examine the most frequent

errors that either cause or contribute to malpractice claims or
make a claim less defensible. We will identify strategies to

avoid these errors and improve patient safety.

Data Review

SVMIC reviewed surgical claims where we have paid a loss on

behalf of an insured in the past ten years. We identified four

key issues (apart from medical judgment issues) that
hampered our ability to successfully defend these cases:

communication, documentation, systems, and medications.
Many of the topics explored in this course fall into multiple

categories. For example, informed consent could be addressed

in communication, documentation, systems, and even
medication.

Let us begin with communication.

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