Study: Time spent on medical malpractice lawsuits should be curbed

Healthcare organizations have a variety of standards to meet in order to keep patients safe, and medical malpractice lawsuits take aim at their vigilance in doing so. Doctors are often consumed with unresolved malpractice cases as patients allege errors were made under their care. The New York Times outlined the story of one radiologist who was accused of missing an irregularity in an X-ray of a cancer patient whose tumor has since become inoperable.

The accused doctor began staying late at the hospital reviewing her work multiple times, fearing for her reputation and becoming irritable at any slight inconvenience. Even though she was exonerated in court one year later, the case had depleted her completely during that time. A study published in Health Affairs shows that malpractice cases go unresolved for an average of four years, with doctors spending 11 percent of their careers handling these accusations.

“These findings help to show why doctors care so intensely about malpractice and what they might face over the course of a lifetime,” Seth Seabury, senior economist at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California, told The Times.

Emotional injury cases are often resolved within six months while fatality or permanent disability claims take more than one year to address, according to the report. In fact, 17 percent of fatality claims took at least three years to resolve. The researchers advised that the amount of time spent on these claims should be decreased in order to benefit both the patient and doctor.

Medical organizations in Arizona should consider working with Phoenix business attorneys and partaking in dispute resolution programs when handling patient concerns or malpractice claims. With an impartial party to consider both sides of the story, physicians and healthcare facilities are likely to see a fair outcome to any patient disputes.

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