Page 34 - 2022 Risk Basics - Anesthesiology

SVMIC Risk Basics: Anesthesiology

reflecting the proper assessment of the patient status prior

to PACU discharge which, in turn, led to allegations of
discharging the patient too early and without

anesthesiologist oversight.

Communication

After documentation issues, the second most common area
that significantly contributed to the indefensibility of anesthesia

claims was communication. As you have seen, communication
and documentation often go hand-in-hand as in the case of

informed consent, for example.

Effective communication is essential to establishing trust and
building good patient rapport which, in turn, plays a role in a

patient’s perception of the quality of care received and helps

ensure compliance. As we discussed earlier, patients and their
families are generally apprehensive and often fearful about the

prospect of anesthesia. Anesthesiologists have very little time

for personal patient engagement or family interaction, so it’s
important to take advantage of every opportunity to build trust

and alleviate fears through good communication.

The types of communication issues in claims include:

 Physician to CRNA

 Physician to physician

 Physician to staff

 Physician to patient (including inadequate consent

discussion)

 CRNA to patient

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