Dear Imaging Center Insider,
The threat of a malpractice action is a black cloud that hangs over every physician practice in the U.S. According to an article last year by Dr. Richard Anderson in the Archives of Internal Medicine (June 2004, Vol. 164, pp. 1173-1178), on any given day more than 120,000 malpractice actions are pending against physicians in the U.S., and one in six physicians report a claim every year.
Based on statistics such as these, it seems almost inevitable that a practice will be faced with a malpractice action in its professional lifetime. Every group of medical practitioners must face the harsh reality of malpractice litigation, according to a presentation by attorney James Saxton at the 2005 American Brachytherapy Society meeting in San Francisco.
Saxton, who is the chairman of the health litigation group at Stevens & Lee in Lancaster, PA, offered an outline of the processes involved in a malpractice action, as well as specific advice on how physicians can keep potential cases from even making it into the hands of lawyers.
If you'd like to find out more about preparing for a malpractice suit or avoiding one altogether, click here. As an AuntMinnie.com Imaging Center Insider, you have access to the article days before the rest of our members.
Finally, if you have a comment or report to share about any aspect of diagnostic imaging center practice, management, administration, regulation, or financing, please contact me at [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you.
