CME/CE Education

This Internet activity will provide data and analysis of actual claims of EMTALA violations, showing what factors caused the patient claim to win and the hospital to lose.

Twenty years ago, the AMA noted an alarming trend by physicians and hospitals: they were treating the terms “standard of care” and “clinical practice guidelines” virtually interchangeably, a trend that has only increased over time.

Powerful new CT technology has enabled life-saving medical advances.

Diagnostic error in medicine has been estimated at about 10% or more from claims data, autopsies, and retrospective studies. A growing body of literature on this topic is reviewed by the acknowledged expert Mark Graber who has studied, lectured and published extensively on the subject.

Physicians assume professional liability risk whenever they hire or collaborate with anyone, including an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN).  There is also increased risk of patient dissatisfaction, medical error and claims when a physician’s medical practice is chronically overbooked.

Communicating with patients by e-mail is rapidly becoming a part of many physicians’ medical practice. It ranks high in patient satisfaction, and at least one study found it to be associated with better patient compliance and better control of chronic conditions.

End of life conversations are difficult for the physician and are often avoided or postponed.

Patients have more choices than ever before about new procedures and treatments. The proliferation of medical news in the popular media fuels unrealistic expectations for a perfect outcome, making a truly Informed Consent more important than ever.

Discussing adverse medical events with patient and family is perhaps the most difficult conversation physicians will undertake.  Too often, physicians postpone, delegate or avoid these difficult conversations.

Diagnostic Error has been described as the New Frontier in Patient Safety.  Claims data supports this contention.  A large study by the Rand Corporation has demonstrated that patient adverse events and medical malpractice claims go hand in hand … and that reducing one can be expected to reduce the other.