Medical Malpractice Lawsuits On The Rise

More and more liability insurers have taken to separating policies of those medical professionals who practice in hospitals, from those professionals in general practice. In previous years, hospitalists were afforded the same rate as primary care physicians, but this may soon change since the number of medical malpractice lawsuits against hospitalists is on the rise. The Doctors Company, the biggest national insurer for physicians, has predicted that as hospital practitioners take on more responsibilities and roles in their work environment, they stand the chance of facing more lawsuits. While primary care physicians and hospitalists both practice medicine, their daily pressures and environments tend to be vastly different. Hospitalist's patients are usually much sicker than those of general physicians. What's more, hospital specialists are not able to develop longstanding relationships with their ailing patients. So they don't have the privilege of gaining insight into a detailed background of how the hospital patients assigned to them communicate. Also, a lot of hospitalists have far more patients than they can handle at any given time. A study conducted by Johns Hopkins revealed some worrying statistics. According to the survey, 40 percent of doctors who participated reported excessive numbers of patients at least once in a month. Over 36 percent of the doctors claimed this actually happened to them on a weekly basis. Owing to this structure, the study discovered that many hospitalists simply cannot devote the required attention to each and every patient. Other oversights follow, too, such as delayed admissions or discharges, the ordering of endless or needless tests and a lesser quality of care – all of which could lead to situations of medical malpractice. The Medical University of South Carolina's chief quality officer and hospitalist, Danielle Scheurer, M.D., says in her article that appeared in the The Hospitalist, that it's time to take a more proactive role and start breaking old habits. Scheurer says that many professionals in the healthcare industry tend to wait for someone else to tell them when to start doing new things, but rarely do healthcare workers take the initiative to stop doing something, or try to implement a more workable alternative. She suggests hospitalists start thinking deeply about all the things they do and how they can radically change the industry in which they work to start cutting back, and essentially avoiding, those medical malpractice lawsuits.

Need Legal Help For a Medical Malpractice Case?

When you or a loved one is sick and in need of medical attention, there's no doubt you trust your physician to provide the necessary care. But there are times when even doctors make mistakes or act negligently in such a way that your health is put at risk. Clore Law's medical malpractice attorneys understand just how devastating the consequences of a physician's error can be for you and someone you care about. If you, or someone you know, has been the victim of medical malpractice in South Carolina, feel free to contact us at 843-722-8070 for a consultation.