Causes and Management of Malpractice Liability in the Healthcare Industry

Unfair, but unavoidable, is the fact that today\u27s litigious society is impinging on the delivery of Healthcare. What was good medical and nursing practice just ten years ago may be the source of a malpractice suit today. Lawsuits mushroom from endless allegations of misguided performance or lack of it. Incompetence or neglect, when proven, can convince a jury and target accountability. An increasing number of lawsuits, leading to enormous settlements, have let to the high cost .of malpractice insurance, and driven many physicians to early retirement and other out of their specialties. There is no single solution, but steps are being made to at least start addressing the malpractice issue. Some states are adopting new laws to fight the malpractice crisis. This malpractice crisis has not only affected physicians, but also created an increasing trickle affect to the nursing profession, ancillary healthcare personnel, and the hospital. As in any profession, the medical profession demands accountability. If a physician, nurse, ancillary personnel, or the hospital is proven negligent by increasing risk to the patient, they must be held accountable for the injury or causation of a situation. The negligent action is rarely meant to be harmful. This paper will focus on the causes and management of malpractice liability in the Healthcare industry. Avoiding lawsuits is the obvious solution to avoid problems. An acceptable way is to prevent foreseeable harm to the patient by always taking appropriate action and remembering that no action at all can be dangerous. Preventing or minimizing potential liability exposure, rather than responding to it once it manifests itself, is a more fruitful, conceptually complete approach to managing the malpractice crisis. This predictive and preventive approach presents the greatest opportunity for controlling future malpractice and malpractice liability