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IN THIS EDITION:
- Hey, docs, want to try something new?
- Wrong-side surgeries/wrong-headed risk-management
- Driver re-visited
- Progress, new friends, and life on the road
- Sorry Works! in Self Magazine
Hey, docs, want to try something new?
This week we witnessed what has become an annual right of Spring: The United States Senate failing to pass caps on medical malpractice lawsuits. This year, two different med-mal bills went down in flames. One bill would have capped damages against all healthcare providers, while the other would have provided caps for only OB/GYNs. Both bills are now on the ash heap.
Hey, docs, perhaps it's time to try a new tactic? After all, you've had the virtual leadership dream team for tort reform over the past four years but nothing to show for it. Think about. You've had President Bush who would sign any tort reform bill that hit his desk, even if a monkey sponsored it. Then there's Senate President Frist, the M.D. And, finally, Speaker Hassert, who, if asked by the AMA, would run a tort reform bill every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Despite this seemingly perfect political storm in your favor, no tort reform successes. Notta. And with mid-term elections looming and Republicans running scared, your tort reform prospects aren't getting any brighter.
Truth be told, the GOP and the business community are just as happy not passing tort reform. As long as tort reform is the number #1 agenda item for the medical community, doctors will keep writing checks to Republican politicians and showering money on Republican lobbyists and consultants. You'll keep turning your waiting rooms into mini-campaign offices for the latest GOP politician to promise tort reform, and the business community will keep riding your white coattails for their liability agenda, including class-action, venue, and asbestos reforms.
Tired of being used by politicians? How about you forget about Washington D.C. and its sorry array of sorted political hacks and focus instead on the people sitting in your waiting and examination rooms? Focus squarely on your patients and their families and forget about politicians, trial lawyers, judges, and juries. Work within your sphere of influence. Study after study by Hickson and other proves that people sue you not because of technical competence or quality of services, but because of your lack of personality and bed-side manner. Simply put, people sue docs they don't like. Patients and families especially dislike docs who go "poof" after adverse events. Work on your bed-side manner and customer service skills. Get your staff involved in this too. Keep your customers (i.e, patients and families) happy.
And when things go wrong, as they will in medicine, turn those hurt customers into your best friends. Instead of stonewalling and driving patients and families into the street, work to keep all parties communicating and focused on solving problems. Sorry Works! shows you how to do this. Sorry Works! is working around the country at reducing lawsuits and liability costs while providing healing for patients and doctors & preserving doctor-patient relationships.
The best part of this program is you can improve your customer service skills and implement Sorry Works! on your own today with no help or votes needed from politicians. That’s a refreshing change! Just don't tell the Republican Party – they need your money and pretty doctor faces for the mid-term elections!
Wrong side surgeries/wrong-headed risk-management
Some experts say that wrong-side surgeries account for nearly 10 percent of all documented medical errors…..and if there was ever a type of error that perfectly suited for Sorry Works, it's the wrong- side surgery! Everyone knows you screwed up, even the patient's 90- year old grandmother knows you goofed. So why are you fighting it? Why are you playing games with the patient and their family? Why string them for out for years while ringing up big legal defense bills only to get zinged by an angry jury. These are the questions David Patton, Sorry Works! board member and med-mal plaintiff's attorney, must have asked himself when patient Doug McCoy walked through the doors of his office.
McCoy's story was recently featured in USA Today and the Today Show. Mr. McCoy sought surgery in an Arizona hospital for his right ear that was constantly plugged and had diminished hearing. Unfortunately, the surgeon operated on Mr. McCoy's healthy left ear, placing an unnecessary tube in the ear. In addition to pain and suffering , McCoy may have future medical complications – including loss of hearing – in his healthy left ear.
After the wrong-side surgery, Mr. McCoy sought help from the hospital’s risk management team. Much to Mr. McCoy's surprise, the risk management folks told him they would wave the charges for the wrong-side surgery but he would have to pay for the surgery on his right ear. Furthermore, the hospital staff told McCoy they would not cover any monitoring or future expenses on his left ear, nor would he receive any compensation for his pain and suffering. Lastly, the hospital staff happily informed Mr. McCoy that they perform approximately 6,000 surgeries per year, and his case was the only wrong-side surgery to date. At that point, Mr. McCoy visited David Patton's office. Patton was able to get the case settled.
Why? Why? Why? Why do risk managers, healthcare, and insurance professionals engage in such silliness and bad behavior? They would never accept such poor "customer service" if they or a loved one were the patient on the receiving end of a medical error, yet they expect patients like Mr. McCoy to shut up and take it.and then these same healthcare professionals have the audacity to act surprised when a person like Mr. McCoy sues. Silliness!
The Arizona hospital should have made Mr. McCoy their best friend after the wrong-side surgery by doing the obvious: apologize, admit fault, explain what happened and how they’ll make sure it doesn't happen again, wave all charges for both surgeries, provide for any future medical expenses, and offer fair, upfront compensation for his pain and suffering, missed time from work and family, etc, etc. Very simple, but for some reason many people still don't get it. Why?
Now, this is one of those teachable moments…..no where in the Sorry Works! program, website, or newsletters will you read that we advocate apologies and compensation after every bad outcome. Wrong- side surgeries and other instances of breaching the standard of medical care, yes, but if the standard of care was met – there was no error – you may apologize, but admission of fault or compensation are not offered. Furthermore, you do not settle such cases no matter how expensive they are to fight. A medical staff on solid ground is never sold out under Sorry Works – how's that for a refreshing change, doctors?
This is the beauty of Sorry Works….it literally turns litigation logic on its head. Cases of clear-cut negligence are settled quickly and fairly and patients and doctors get healing and learning, while doctors are never sold out when they are on solid ground.
Please forward this column to risk managers, defense attorneys, and hospital administrators you know….people need to hear this message.
Driver re-visited
A few weeks ago a column was published in this newsletter which basically said patients and families are the drivers of the med-mal crisis. The column went on to say that anger is what drives patients and families to call attorneys and file med-mal lawsuits. The short column concluded by explaining that patients and families become angry when doctors and healthcare professionals abandon them after bad outcomes, and the way to control medical liability is to prevent this anger by addressing the problems and concerns of patients and families.
This short column evoked some strong responses from some of our readers, especially patients, patient advocates, and med-mal plaintiffs attorneys. One respondent was attorney David Patton (featured above). David said insurance companies and their "scorched earth" policies of denying and fighting all claims – even the most legitimate claims like wrong-side surgeries – is the chief cause of the med-mal crisis. David went onto say that these archaic legal strategies employed by defense lawyers literally pit doctors against patients and their lawyers and breed a lot of unnecessary hostility among all parties.
David Patton is right.there is A LOT of unnecessary hostility among all sides that is driving the medical liability crisis. There is a palpable fear and mistrust among all sides. Your writer, SW! spokesperson Doug Wojcieszak, witnessed this hostility first hand at a Crittenden’s Insurance Conference meeting in Phoenix, AZ last week. Prominent med-mal plaintiff’s attorney Phil Corboy (from Chicago) participated on a panel discussion where he told insurance and medical people how he wins cases – and how they could better protect themselves. Mr. Corboy was very insightful, candid, and open in his remarks. Many folks listened and learned, but there were still several insurance and medical professionals in the room who let their anger and hatred of trial lawyers get in the way. Their questions and remarks were snotty, poorly worded, and intended to goad Mr. Corboy into debate. This behavior needs to stop now.
Sorry Works! provides the way to rebuild communication and trust among doctors, patients, and attorneys. The facilities that have implemented disclosure programs have noted a marked change in the attitude of all participants – attorneys included.
Progress, new friends, and life on the road
At the Crittenden's meeting Doug Wojcieszak learned West Virginia Mutual Insurance Company is developing a disclosure/apology program for their physicians – great news!
Over the last two weeks, Wojcieszak also spoke before Congress' 21st Century Healthcare Caucus, the Indiana Association for Healthcare Quality, a Robert Wood Johnson meeting in Washington, D.C, and the Washington State Orthopaedic Surgeons meeting in Seattle, WA. This week Wojcieszak will speak to the California Medical Board.
Lots of travel, but definitely worth it. We're getting a great response from audiences, especially medical, insurance, and risk management professionals. People are embracing the idea of immediately taking control of their liability problems on their own with Sorry Works! Change is on the way.
Wojcieszak's Power Point presentation is now available on the Sorry Works! website. Please hit the following link.
Also, Wojcieszak's testimony before the Tennessee General Assembly is also available on the web.
Sorry Works! in Self Magazine!
Drs. Steve Kraman and Michael Woods, both on the Sorry Works! board, along with Sorry Works! friends Rosemary Gibson, Dr. Gerald Hickson, COPIC Insurance and many others appear in a great article in the May 2006 edition of Self Magazine. It's on newsstands today – check it out! Title of the article is, "When Doctors Make Mistakes" on page 217.
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