Page 28 - Hospitalists - Risks When You're the Doctor in the House (Part One)
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SVMIC Hospitalists - Risks When You’re the Doctor in the House
This case presents an extreme example of a hospitalist failing to
meet the standard of care in numerous areas of his practice –
communication, documentation, coordination, transfer, medical
judgment, etc. These are, however, the types of mistakes liability
insurance carriers often see in cases involving hospitalists – just
not typically all in one case. Moreover, this is a clear example
of a hospitalist who didn’t understand the importance of his
role relative to patient care and safety. Finally, did you notice
how he quickly tried to shift the blame to the nurses and other
physicians involved, including his own partner? If you were a
juror, would you have any reluctance finding that this hospitalist
failed to meet the standard of care? As you proceed through the
remainder of this course, keep this deposition in mind.
The Problem Areas
The most common allegations involving hospitalists are:
• Improper management of treatment course
• Delay in treatment
• Failure to treat
• Diagnosis-related error (failure to diagnose, delay in
diagnosis, or wrong diagnosis)
• Improper medication management
• Failure to monitor the psychologic status of the patient
• Errors in discontinuance of care
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