The "Curbside Consult"

We have all done it. 

You see Mark in a hospital hallway and he asks, “Hey Frank, I have a patient with XYZ symptoms….what do you think?”

When this happens, you provide a quick thought about what might help a colleague get to the root of a patient’s problem.  But you always thought that it was “off the record” and wasn’t really a part of the patient’s care.  That, after all, was Mark’s issue.  He is the physician who is responsible for the patient.  He is the one where the buck stops.

 Perhaps that’s what you thought, but the reality may be far from that. 

While we have all heard horror stories where a physician who provides a curbside consult gets sucked into a malpractice case, they seemed to be infrequent. But that may not be the case in the future.

Minnesota – April 17, 2019 : Minnesota Supreme Court

Mark this date.  On that date, the Minnesota...

Worried about your mistakes resulting in a medical malpractice case?

Well, you should also consider this.  That EMR in your office may also be contributing to your medical malpractice risk.  

EMR Generated Errors

In this recent article in Medical Economics, they outline sources of errors that are in your EMR.  In fact, the number of medical malpractice cases due to errors generated by an EMR tripled from 2013 to 2017.

There have been errors that have resulted in incorrect surgeries and other medical issues, but perhaps the most common problem is in electronic prescriptions.  

The articles recommendation?  You should test your EMR to make sure it's accurate. 

Yes, you heard this correctly. YOU should be checking the system periodically to make sure it's accurate.  As if you, as a physician, didn't already have a significant efficiency handicap because of poorly designed EMRs with poor interfaces.  Now you...

Can you imagine this happening to you?  

It could.

On November 30, The Little River Healthcare system notified it's employees at two hospitals and several medical clinics, that very thing.  They would be shutting down services about a week later, because of financial insolvency and Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

So why is this important in regards to risk management?  Especially physician focused services?  It simple, but may not be obvious....

First, physicians may or may not be employed by the system.  If they are employees, then their paychecks may stop very quickly.  If they are independent contractors and do their own billing, then they may be fortunate enough to be able to continue cash flow while their accounts receivables come in.  But that doesn't last forever.

But there is another significant issue that may not be so obvious.  Medical liability.  Who carries the insurance for the physicians?  If it's the hospital, then what...