Malpractice Manual - 1 Malpractice Manual Michelle Hobbs...

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Malpractice Manual
Michelle Hobbs, Melanie Hodge, and Zaida Torres
HCS/545
June 13, 2016
Qiana Amos

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Malpractice Manual
Medical malpractice litigation is one of the few matters in healthcare that triggers much
anger and anguish amid healthcare practitioners. Litigants' lawyers and several patients see a
lawsuit as an essential method of safety against medical negligence. Moreover, the high
percentages of medical errors fortify the positions of the litigation attorneys, who see themselves
as champions of patients' safety. With the malpractice crisis spreading across the United States, it
is important to analyze the impact of malpractice in healthcare and patient care. Also, it is vital to
scrutinize the process available after adverse medical events, and the legal requirements of
healthcare reform to find and enforce the best strategies that will help to avoid the high
malpractice rates in the healthcare system (Studdert, Mello, & Brennan, 2004).
Analysis of the Stages and Impact of Malpractice in Healthcare
The impact of malpractice on patients is obvious when the details of the claim are
revealed, but there is an impact on the healthcare organization, physicians, and the entire
healthcare system that is not as obvious. Healthcare organizations and physicians involved face
monetary penalties based on the judgment of the malpractice claim, but there are other impacts
that never make the headlines.
The most common beginnings of a malpractice claim involve five types of allegations:
failure to properly document, failure to follow standards of care, failure to assess and monitor
patient’s condition, failure to use equipment responsibly, and failure to communicate (Reising,
2012). Once a claim is filed, the healthcare organization and physicians must begin the process
of depositions and pleadings to prepare for trial (Jenkins & Lemak, 2007). Following depositions
and pleadings some cases may be settled out of court. The average settlement amount in inpatient
claims settled out-of-court is $363.000; cases that make it to trial have an average award of
$799,000 (Gougen, n.d.).
A few examples of malpractice claims include an anesthesiologist causing the cardiac
arrest of a patient undergoing surgery when they fail to have an ample supply of oxygen, the

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improper setting of a bone fracture that results in permanent damage, performing an unnecessary
surgery that results in the patient becoming addicted to pain medications, and a medication that
has been noted to have allergic reactions is given to the patient (Medical Malpractice Newsletter,
n.d.). According to Baicker and Chandra (2004), the delivery of healthcare is affected by the
above examples and other medical malpractice liability costs by the increase in malpractice
insurance premiums and the practice of defensive medicine. These affects may cause the