Page 13 - Part 1 Anesthesiology Common Risk Issues

SVMIC Anesthesiology: Common Risk Issues

practicing within the hospital or ambulatory surgical center

settings. When SVMIC reviews claims where we have paid a
loss on behalf of an insured, we attempt to identify the reason

we were unable to successfully defend the case in order to
extrapolate teaching points. Because these are the reasons that

contribute toward making the case more difficult to defend in
front of a jury, we refer to them as “indefensibility issues”. We are

going to be examining each major category — documentation,
communication, medication errors, and additional issues — of

indefensibility issues relative to the provision of anesthesia
throughout the remainder of this course. Let’s begin with

documentation.

Documentation

The first category of indefensibility issue we will examine is

documentation. This issue is certainly not unique to anesthesia
and is the most common factor we see across all specialties

which make cases indefensible. This remains true regardless of
whether an Electronic Health Records (EHR) system or paper

charts are being used and despite repeated emphasis of the
importance of proper documentation through risk education

programs.

Effective documentation is one of the most important patient
care and risk management skills a healthcare professional can

develop. A quality medical record not only fosters effective
communication among members of the healthcare team,

thus promoting effective management of patient care, but it
also serves as evidence of all pertinent facts associated with

the diagnosis and treatment of a patient. In the event of a
medical malpractice lawsuit, it becomes a crucial component in

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