|
Course
Objectives
At the end of this course the healthcare professional will be able
to:
- Identify
and discuss causes and forces driving the explosion of malpractice
litigation in the healthcare industry.
- Explain the
civil judicial system and how it relates to malpractice litigation.
- List and
define common legal terms.
- Interpret
purpose of settlements used in the judicial process.
- Evaluate
the basic processes of malpractice litigation.
- Define and
describe the elements required to determine case merit.
Introduction
Healthcare professionals today find themselves increasingly under
the watchful eye of the public. Todayıs emphasis on seeking a remedy
for everything within the court system has created a very litigious
society in America. This highly litigious atmosphere causes a great
deal of anxiety among all healthcare professionals working in the
field, and rightly so.
It is predicted
that malpractice litigation will continue to increase rapidly, well
into the twenty-first century. This is partly due to the increasing
numbers of the population who are approaching advanced age, and
thus are utilizing health services on an ever increasing basis.
Because of
the current and anticipated virtual explosion of litigation, nurses,
physicians and other allied health professionals may find themselves
named as a defendant in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Thus all
healthcare professionals should become familiar with the basic principles
of malpractice litigation and risk management programs. Developing
a good understanding of the malpractice process will go a long way
in helping prepare the healthcare professional by eliminating some
of the myths, fears and misinformation.
The importance
of risk reduction and avoidance is already of primary concern to
the public at large, due to the staggering increase in the cost
of delivering healthcare in this country and the impact it is having
on everyoneıs pocketbook. For these reasons, and driven by champion
watchdog organizations such as the Joint Commission for Accreditation
of Healthcare Organizations, many states have begun mandating, by
statutes, formal risk management and quality assurance departments
and programs. This is a good idea helping reduce malpractice exposure
to both organizations and individual healthcare professionals.
|
