Medical Malpractice
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2 4 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U L Y 2 0 1 7
Avoiding malpractice claims starts with having a comprehensive
and well-documented informed consent process. With every
patient you need to spell it out: "This is how the procedure is per-
formed, and these are the recognized and known complications
that could result."
If an adverse event does arise and the patient's family asks how
an infection or some other complication arose, you can refer back
to informed consent: "Remember when we talked about the risk
of infection and even death? The good news is that your father
didn't die, but there was a complication that we have fixed and
he's recovering now."
Most people trust and want to like their healthcare providers.
Having surgeons who are comfortable talking with patients and
their families about unanticipated outcomes helps to answer
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
How to Talk About Adverse Outcomes
• FORTHCOMING If a complication occurs, having a surgeon explain the details to the patient may help to prevent the complication
from turning into a claim.
Jason
Meehan
