Mistakes and Accidents

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	Mistakes and Accidents

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How Much is Too Much?

Contrary to popular belief a medical assistant doesn't have to cause severe injury to face a serious law suit as a consequence of his or her actions, or failure to act. There are laws that affect medical assistants and all medical assistants have to remain within their limited scope of practice. If they don't and a mistake happens they may face a serious malpractice lawsuit, especially if it can be shown that they acted outside the professional norm and their specific scope of practice! And these mistakes can be reason enough to be held liable in court should any negative outcome or damages occur to the patient as a result.

What Kind of Mistakes? Male medical assistant reads patient chart.

An unintended oversight (as "little" as failing to obtain informed consent from a patient)

Miscommunication (as "little" as forgetting to ask about latex allergies)

Indifference (as "little" as failing to recognize a need for help)

Abandonment (as "little" as failing to return a phone call)

Indiscretion (as "little" as calling a patient in from the waiting area using their full name)

Not following standards of care (as "little" as doing a little more than allowed)

To Err is Human, But To Hurt Someone has Consequences...

Unfortunately, as the old adage states: "To err is human. Mistakes, oversights, accidents, mix-ups, errors in judgment, or irresponsible acts do happen! They usually occur when least expected and some of these unfortunate events may cause harm to the patient! When serious mistakes happen, they have profound effects on people's lives. Malpractice events place unexpected hardship on families who suddenly find themselves overwhelmed with emotional and financial burdens.

Some consequences of a mistake my be temporary, but some victims may be permanently affected. Some may suffer injuries and have long-term medical expenses as a consequence, some may never be able to return to their jobs; yet others may not survive. Nothing is more difficult and painful than losing a loved one and when the death was caused by someone else's negligence the family's devastation over the loss is even worse!

An Act Within The Scope:

"An act is within the scope of employment if it is incidental to the employer's business and is done to further the employer's interest. If an employee departs so far from his duties that his acts are no longer for his employer's benefit, then his acts are not within the scope of his employment. However, if the tortuous act of the employee arose out of an activity which was within the employee's scope of employment or within the ordinary course of business, then that act may be considered to be within the scope of employment."

It's Not True That Medical Assistants Will Not Be Sued!

Many medical assistants are under the impression that if there are no laws that govern the medical assistant in their state, there are no laws.

Nothing could be further from the truth: There are laws affecting medical assistants! And under the american system, anybody who believes that they have a case can sue anybody. Even if the accused is completely innocent, it can cost thousands of dollars in legal fees to defend this innocence, and completely wipe a person out, emotionally and financially.

It cannot be said often enough: although medical assistants are dependent practitioners who work under the direct supervision of the physician, where the physician is responsible for their employee's actions, this does not exonerate them from risk of direct liability.

Each healthcare practitioner can be held responsible for his or her own negligent acts, since malpractice is defined as "the negligent act of a person with specialized training and education", which includes medical assistants.

The Law on Tort and Negligence:

Tort or negligence law imposes a minimum level of due care on all persons in their interactions with others, including people who choose to volunteer. Negligence is generally considered failure to act with the prudence that a reasonable person would exercise under the same circumstances.

Respondeat Superior:

Respondeat superior is a legal term that stands for "let the master answer". It is a long established doctrine that applies when a master acts through the servant to accomplish the master's task, such as the medical assistant carrying out direct patient care and treatment procedures under the control of the physician. What this doctrine is referring to is the fact that, under specific circumstances, an employer (or the master) is legally liable for the actions of his or her employees (the servants) while in the course of their employment. The actions of the servant are imputed to the master.

Respondeat Superior In Simple Terms:

If an employee acts bad, which includes harming a patient intentionally, or unintentionally, it can create liability for the employer if the bad act was committed on the job, performed as part of the job and the kind of job that the employee was hired to do. Read:

Virginia Respondeat Superior Doctrine Clarified

Liability! Professional writes into logs.

The very critical issues of medical errors and patient safety have received a great deal of attention. In November 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report estimating that as many as 98,000 patients die as the result of medical errors in hospitals each year. As more patients, their friends and malpractice lawyers become aware of the role of the medical assistant in direct patient care, they also see a potential malpractice target if they believe they have received a poor standard of care. Injured patients, either on their own, or encouraged by family members, friends, or their attorneys, wind up taking their cases to the courts.

Situations involving injuries or damages that generations ago would have been ignored by the injured person are now regularly the basis for lawsuits. Liability has become a major risk not only for the physician but also for allied healthcare professionals working under their direct supervision, such as the medical assistant. As in any legal proceedings, when a medical malpractice law suit is filed as many people as possible will be named.

Read:

Medicine and Law—Malpractice Topic Area

Requirements For A Successful Negligence Suit:

Negligence in a medical office is a failure in a doctor's, nurse's, paramedical, or other allied healthcare professional's duty to patients and it implies a standard of conduct!

1. A duty requiring a person to conform to a standard of conduct that protects others from unreasonable risk of harm

2. A breach of that duty (i.e., the person's failure to conform to the standard of conduct)

3. A causal connection between the breach of the duty and the resulting injury

4. A resulting injury or damage which results in measurable physical, emotional or economic harm

Read:

Malpractice and Liability

In one very interesting report published on the Internet an attorney, Neil Lieberman, ESQ, is invited to comment on the issues of respondeat superior. He states that it creates legal issues that trap medical personnel, but since these cases are handled on a contingent basis, lawyers may be reluctant to sue people with a strong defense. Read all: Invited Commentary: Neil Lieberman, ESQ Attorney at Law: Emergency Medicine, Nov. 2002 EMU PDF.