Assigning patients from the waiting room

[Brigade4Radiant]

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Getting sued successfully and getting named in a suit are the same feeling. If you lose, insurance pays. It's going through the process that is painful. I've been sued twice -- dropped both times -- but the entire process was very stressful and honestly I didn't care what the outcome was as I went through 90% of the process.

If you get sued once or twice, it won't be an issue unless you were careless with something. If you have three or more, it's going to raise red flags and might not only prevent a job offer, but may prevent a credentials committee/med exec from credentialing you from a hospital. Don't get credentialed at one, and you have to not only report the litigation but you also have to report the credentialing denial. Don't get me wrong. Three suits being dropped probably won't prevent you from being credentialed, but three dropped suits plus a successful one might. At some point red flags are going to be raised, and some hospitals and contract groups are going to ask if it's worth hiring you or if they'd be better off taking the next person who has applied for the same position.

So just getting named in litigation has potential for serious consequences. For those that are nonchalant about it because it wasn't carried until the end, I can assure you it has real consequences.

Hypothetically, yes being listed hurts but in reality it’s just not the case. I doubt that you would have any issues working if you get dropped from 3 to 4 suites also credentialing actually looks at what happened being named can just be probability as doctors win 80-90 percent of cases that go to court.

I personally know OB/GYN’s who are on national news for a case and had no issues with getting credentialed. I just don’t see this in real life at all. It also wouldn’t makes sense since most hospitals are desperate to fill.

You are more likely to get in trouble for sexual harassment claims. Doctors who can't practice EM anywhere is very rare I have never heard of it personally. You would be more likely to lose things in divorce or lose credentialling from issues from a divorce than being named in a lawsuit with no gross issues.

 

[Janders]

Hypothetically also credentialing actually looks at what happened being named can just be probability as doctors win 80-90 percent of cases that go to court.

You are more likely to get in trouble for sexual harassment claims. Doctors who can't practice EM anywhere is very rare I have never heard of it personally. You would be more likely to lose things in divorce or lose credentialling from issues from a divorce than being named in a lawsuit with no gross issues.

As a close colleague who sat on a state licensing board for years told me--

90% of the issues they saw that led to loss of license or severe curtailing of privileges were either sexual relationships with patients or substance issues-- and the later wasn't just a basic addiction issue, those get (at least a chance) at rehab. It was using their license to supply substances, often in exchange for sex.

 

[CoolDoc1729]

An EM friend of mine got named in a case in which the triage nurse ordered testing in his name. The kicker was that he was not even on shift that day. He eventually got dropped, but still had to give a deposition, etc.

My director was named because a nurse did a triage protocol ekg on a patient - on a night shift - which he hasn’t worked in at least 15 years - he was also dropped but it took 2 depositions somehow …

 

[WhatJobDoIPick]

what’s wild to me is that we (as in physicians) intimately understand the ridiculous nature of our malpractice system and have control over the real downstream consequences, yet let it, and all of its secondary effects persist. It doesn’t need to be this way.

When you realize it's mostly loser non-contributing patients/families going after a scratch off lotto ticket and unscrupulous lawyers taking on cases because they know medmal insurers are skiddish and quick to settle, it all makes sense.

Yes, the case of the missed PE in the tachycardic and hypoxic patient exists; but this is the exception.

 

[trackrunner321]

They weren't appropriately dropped. They had to go all the way to deposition which likely took at least 2 years. Plus the added stress. Now they have to disclose this whenever they apply or reapply for credentials. They should have never been named. Insanity.

Exactly!