Page 31 - 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
Risk Issues Identi ed with Hospitalists
image courtesy of svmic
Communication Issues
Effective communication is essential in establishing trust
and building good patient rapport. This in turn plays a role
in a patient’s perception of the quality of care received and
willingness to comply with a physician’s instructions. National
data, as well as SVMIC’s data, suggests that patient handoffs
between physicians continue to be a significant source of
liability for hospitalists. Communication breakdowns occurred
in 69 percent of the reviewed claims, with the majority of these
claims being breakdowns between physicians.
A communication breakdown can have severe consequences
for the patient. See the following example.
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