Page 40 - OB Risks - Delivering the Goods (Part One)

SVMIC Obstetrics Risks: Delivering the Goods

Physician-to-Staff Communication (and Vice

Versa)

As mentioned earlier, communication failures between the

physician and staff represented 34 percent of all communication
failures within the closed obstetrics claims of SVMIC. It is

important to build and nurture rapport with staff, both office
and hospital, to avoid a toxic environment in which the nursing

staff are hesitant to call the physician or to speak up in the
event something is confusing or abnormal. A toxic environment

can potentially create an unsafe patient situation and increase
liability exposure. EHRs can make nursing notes difficult to

locate, so it’s important to effectively communicate with the
team.

Let’s look closely at some cases that involve an all too

familiar scenario: lack of physician and staff communication
at the time of labor and delivery. With the caseload and time
constraints placed on physicians today, obstetricians usually

find themselves racing between their offices and the labor and

delivery department at the hospital. For this reason, they must
rely heavily upon timely and accurate communication from the
office staff as well as the hospital staff.

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