Medical Risk Assessment

Medical malpractice claims are common and can be emotionally difficult for physicians. Most malpractice suits claim negligence. 

The Most Frequent Types of Claims Include

• Failure or delay in diagnosis.
• Negligent treatment with drugs.
• Medication errors.
• Failure to obtain a consultation.
• Failure to obtain informed consent.
• Negligent management of procedures. 

The Medical Risk Assessment is a process by which one identifies potential hazards and risks associated with medical care.

This Medical Risk Assessment Should Include all the Following:

• Identifying the process or practice that is “risky”.
• Identifying who may be injured and how they can be injured.
• Identifying precautions that could ameliorate risks.
• Recording your findings and discussing them with the risk manager.

The medical risk assessment services that we provide are a valuable resource for hospitals and insurance companies as they help identify vulnerabilities in the care at issue, in advance of legal action as well as in the system that serves the hospital.

We can provide strategies to ameliorate risk in the future, share the medical science behind our opinions specific to your case, and give an objective, unbiased opinion of medical negligence or not and strategies on how to move forward.

“A bad system will beat a good person every time”- Edwards Deming, Ph.D.

System design is among the factors that contribute to the errors. The principles of system design, defined as elements and interactions of a system with its members, can be highlighted by actions such as putting one’s cellphone in the trunk to decrease the impulse to text while driving, training all office employees in safe processes, or using color-coded tubing for feedings in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to decrease the likelihood of an intravenous infusion of milk. (Source: AAP News 4-1-2021).

Over the last 20 years, it has become abundantly clear how dangerous health systems can be with the OIG reports as well as many lay press articles. It is, however, very rare for these dangers to be associated with a person who is bad intentioned. Although these bad-intentioned people are more likely to grab the attention of the media, poorly built systems are more likely to cause harm to patients.

Dr. Bartholomew has worked in many systems in her long career, making her well-positioned to assess and advise about issues related to system failures in addition to individual failures.

She and her team will carefully review adverse events and all the surrounding facts and provide cogent, science-based opinions about risk, negligence and avoidance of problems in the future. As a physician, she has practiced in flawed systems and is acutely aware of how physicians are often held responsible for the systems in which they work even though they may have little influence or control over that system.