Dealing with a medical malpractice lawsuit can be emotionally and physically exhausting. Having this problem running around your head adds even more stress to your job, making you even more paranoid and afraid of making the same mistake again. It’s not just something you can forget about. For physicians and healthcare providers, it is important to live in the moment and focus on the patient in front of them without worry.
Peter Ubel, MD, recently wrote an article on KevinMD.com on the subject of medical malpractice claims. Dr. Ubel noted that medical malpractice claims associated with temporary injuries take approximately a year to resolve, while claims associated with permanent injuries or deaths take approximately a year and a half to resolve. For neurosurgeons, the wait time is even longer, spending around a quarter of their careers with open malpractice claims.
Is this timeline for resolving medical malpractice laws fair to either party? Is it the fault of the politicians? Are they not doing enough to make medical malpractice reform a priority? These are just some of the questions asked by many in the healthcare community.
A surgeon says that one possible reason claims are taking too long to resolve is the involvement of lawyers. Since defense attorneys are paid according to billable hours, it is in their best interest to make the claim last as long as possible.
It’s obvious that the malpractice system is broken and needs to be fixed, but how can people drive improvement? What is the next step?
One idea that has been floated is to implement “Health Courts” where legal experts would review a claim and immediately decide whether a case requires further investigation or whether the claim is without merit.
Due to the fear of being sued again, doctors and health care providers continue to practice defensive medicine. This means that they are ordering more tests and prescribing more medications just to make sure all is well with the patient and that they have investigated every possible avenue to prevent the patient from coming back and suing for negligence.
It’s obvious that change needs to happen, and it will take a lot of time, energy, but most of all, a commitment from the health care community, politicians, and the general public to make these changes. Educating people and spreading the word about this issue is something we can do right now. With enough intention, the ball will get rolling and build momentum for positive action.