Hospitalists, she says, might be prone to say, “ ‘Leave me alone. I’m doing the best I can.” You’re doing what may be an untenable job, you’ve got specialists leaning on you from one angle, patients and families … wailing on you from another level, and you’re … stuck in between: a utility player, the one everyone loves to boo off the field when you’re having a bad day.”
On the other hand, she says, “Every day I am carving another little bit of my epitaph, and what it says at the end is of my making. And if you can’t carve in these circumstances, then change them or do something about it. But when the bell tolls for thee, the fact that you worked in a busy hospital and had a bunch of overqualified guys breathing down your neck and under-informed patients blaming you for things that aren’t really your fault—that’s going to be footnote material. Carve out your ground, stand it, and do the job you can be proud of. And nobody and nothing gets you off the hook for that.”
Conclusion
The rising costs of medical malpractice litigation are far more a function of the fluctuations of the economy, among other factors, than of the number and size of malpractice claims payouts. Data show that the vast majority of expenditures that go toward litigation are not due to frivolous claims or unmerited compensation. In fact, litigation may hold value in serving to remind hospitals and providers that the best means of warding off lawsuits is to invest resources in patient safety, including prioritizing communication with patients, families, and colleagues. TH
Andrea Sattinger wrote “Risky Business I” in the Feb. 2006 issue (p. 1).
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