Side Note: A recent study published in the Annals of Surgery reviewed surgical data from the largest medical liability insurer in the Netherlands. The study, which reviewed surgeries from 2004-2005 in which 294 successful med mal claims were made, identified the main reasons for the claims and then compared them to a surgical checklist called […]

Side note: The Illinois Professionals Health Program, the same organization that has drawn criticism for its lack of transparency while monitoring health professionals with records of substance abuse, has been made responsible for the monitoring of doctors with a history of sexual misconduct. Opponents charge that the “off-the-book”, secretive nature of the program does not […]

Side note: Sometimes it is easy to forget the power of an apology. This story details the tragic misdiagnosis that led to the premature death, at the age of 39, of Doug Wojcieszak’s brother. Doug’s brother had gone to the emergency room with chest pains and was diagnosed with ulcers. He returned several hours later […]

Side note: A new study could shed light on the role of paid expert witnesses in medical malpractice lawsuits. The study tested a group of 31 radiologists to see if they came to the same conclusion on a CT scan as four paid expert witnesses. Not one of the 31 doctors were able to see […]

side note: As physicians and hospitals continue to adopt new computer systems, care must be taken to avoid new types of errors. In a recent test simulation carried out in 214 U.S. hospitals, more than half of non-fatal errors in physician-entered drug orders failed to trigger a warning. The test simulation allowed hospitals and doctors […]

side note: This is welcomed news for doctors who have long complained that the standards put in place by President Obama were to tough to meet in such a short period of time. I have spoken to numerous physicians who have looked at EMR/EHR as another time-consuming hurdle that seems almost impossible to meet in […]

side note: this Wall Street Journal interview with a Case Western law professor addresses the trend toward electronic medical records and its effect on medical malpractice.  The professor sees several problems with EMR’s, noting that computers can cause errors with bugs or shutdowns and that entering data into computers impedes on physicians already squeezed schedule.  On the whole, […]

Side note: California is taking steps to deal with so-called ‘never events’ at the state’s hospitals. A particular problem is accidentally leaving surgical instruments and materials inside a patient after completion of surgery. In an effort to reduce the number of these errors, California has been fining hospitals for their mistakes, collecting nearly $300,000 in […]

Side note: Two articles today about the issue of translation in medicine. As the U.S. population becomes more and more diverse, this is an increasing problem for doctors, practices, hospitals and pharmacies to address. The first article, from The Philadelphia Inquirer, addresses working with non-English speaking patients at your practice. As the writer explains, it […]