HRM FPX 5401 Assessment 4

Vila Health Malpractice Advisory Report

Introduction

This advisory report aims to provide Vila Health with recommendations on how to avoid medical malpractice and react should an incident occur. Medical malpractice is any action or inaction by a physician during treatment that varies from the prevailing norms of practice of the medical profession, which causes injury to the patient (Bal, 2009). To decrease the risk of malpractice litigation, Vila Health should have a well-structured strategy incorporating safety and control of risks, communication, monitoring on a constant basis, and promoting a culture of safety. By these actions, Vila Health can increase patient safety, minimize the risk of malpractice claims, and handle legal concerns more efficiently.

Summary of Researched Malpractice Cases

Two different medical staff roles result in malpractice litigation.

Surgeon Malpractice:

The specialty of spinal neurosurgery is litigiously at risk due to the delicate nature of the conditions being treated, the necessity for instrumentation adjacent to critical neurovascular structures, and the delicacy of the spinal cord and nerve roots (Zachary et al., 2020). According to reports, medical malpractice litigation annually exposes up to 20% of active neurosurgeons in the United States. The median indemnity paid on closed neurosurgical civil cases is $439,146, the highest across all medical specialties (Collin & Anastasios, 2020).

A prominent case occurred when a Philadelphia neurosurgeon performed decompression surgery without previously doing the required radiology tests, which caused permanent harm to the patient. The surgeon did not order flexion/extension x-rays, which would have indicated the patient’s unstable spondylolisthesis. This omission led to three more surgeries and left the patient with an unstable spine. Eventually, the patient went to another physician to rectify the initial errors made by the first surgeon (Feldman, n.d.).

HRM FPX 5401 Assessment 4: Malpractice: Advisory Report 

The main problem in this case was inadequate preparation and failure to maintain the appropriate standard of care. Surgeons can prevent these mistakes by receiving proper training, adhering to established procedures, and performing procedures in accordance with medical standards. The policies, practices, and systems that existed would most likely have led to suboptimal preoperative planning and evaluation, which consequently resulted in ethical mistakes.

Before the procedure, the healthcare personnel failed to undertake a systematic evaluation of the patient, which is the gathering and analysis of systematically patient-specific data required in the development of an appropriate care and treatment plan. Suboptimal assessments result in misdiagnosis and, finally, patient harm (Pozgar, 2020). The failure to order necessary x-rays not only resulted in legal repercussions but also cost the physician and the hospital a $2 million settlement.

Nurse Malpractice:

When nurses commit medical malpractice or negligence, the charges are most commonly a result of their actions or lack thereof. Case studies show that around 18% of closed medical lawsuits from 2018 to 2021 were filed against registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), nursing assistants, and nursing students. Some of the common charges are neglect in keeping track of patients, medication administration errors, falls of patients, and pressure injuries (Morris, 2023). An example involves a nurse who administered pain medication to a patient three times without checking the patient’s vital signs.

On the fourth attempt, the condition of the patient had deteriorated immensely. When the vital signs were observed, the nurse realized that the patient’s temperature had decreased to 95.8°F. The patient was cyanotic, apneic, and pulseless at this point. A code was called, and CPR was started. The CPR team resuscitated the patient with epinephrine successfully, but the patient remained comatose for two weeks in the ICU. Follow-up MRIs confirmed brain injury from lack of oxygen, leading to permanent and severe cardiopulmonary arrest and hypoxic brain damage (Pozgar, 2020).

Contributing Factors to Negligent Nursing Care

The existing policies, practices, and systems likely played a significant role in the failure to properly monitor the patient, including the inability to identify signs of distress and the failure to respond appropriately with an adequate level of care. The resulting substandard nursing practice is referred to as neglect, where the nurse fails to achieve minimum behavior standards in relation to duties owed that translate into causation of loss or harm. Negligence can result from the inability to do a nursing duty or doing a nursing task in an inappropriate manner (Faubion, n.d.).

Measurement of vital signs is an essential component of acute clinical practice, the most elementary but most essential information gathered on hospital-admitted patients. Failure to measure these signs compromises patient safety since clinical deterioration may remain undetected or be detected too late for successful medical intervention (Endacott, 2022). Failing to follow set policies and procedures to obtain essential vital signs had far-reaching consequences for both the nurse and the hospital in the form of having to compensate the patient $9 million.

Recommendations to Avoid Future Litigation

Healthcare institutions constantly face various internal and external threats. Consequently, Human Resources (HR) develops and initiates measures designed to avoid and minimize the risk of occurrence and undesirable events that can lead to harm to the organization and workers (Society for Human Resource Management, 2018). Healthcare HR professionals ensure the organization and workers are adhering to many safety, privacy, training, and regulatory policies. To avoid litigation in advance, HR must ensure that the organization is in adherence to a range of laws governing the healthcare industry.

These in the United States include the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which safeguards patient information; the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which requires hospitals to treat any patient who presents at an emergency department irrespective of their capacity to pay; the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act (PSQIA), which safeguards healthcare professionals who report adverse events and unsafe practice; and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), which encourages the application of technology to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of care. By adhering to the necessary policies for treatments and protocols, healthcare professionals can bring significant reductions in risks of future lawsuits.

Benefits for the Organization and Patients

Adopting these best practices will be advantageous to both the organization and its patients with numerous benefits. Being effective in communication is one of the most critical ingredients for preventing malpractice allegations, and that is maintaining a good doctor-patient relationship. This strategy assists in developing patient trust, thereby controlling exposure to malpractice lawsuits and the financial costs involved, safeguarding the organization’s reputation, and ensuring the organization’s ability to remain financially viable. For the patients, such communication means a better quality of care and eliminates the possibility of medical mistakes. By establishing healthy doctor-patient relationships and being well prepared for each patient’s particular needs and issues, the organization can reduce malpractice risks and improve patient satisfaction.

Ethical and Legal Considerations

The suggested strategy is ethical and legal in scope. Working on a compliance model promotes comprehensive screening, regular training, and effective communication, leading to a safety culture and sense of responsibility. The legality is formalized through law, rules, and regulations that must be obeyed. Applying the requirements compels the organization to make ethical decisions that align with its fundamental values. By addressing these, the organization lawfully acts to avoid probable malpractice lawsuits and remain compliant with healthcare. Simply put, avoidance or reduction of medical negligence lawsuits may be attained by making the patient happy, following established policies and procedures, creating patient-centered care, and knowing how to defend oneself against malpractice lawsuits (Collin & Anastasios, 2020).

HRM FPX 5401 Assessment 4: Malpractice: Advisory Report 

Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock Dodig LLP. (n.d.). $2 Million Spinal Surgery Case Against Neurosurgeon and Hospital Settles. Retrieved from https://feldmanshepherd.com/results/2-million-spinal-surgery-case-against-neurosurgeon-and-hospital-settles/

Be Sued for Malpractice? Retrieved from https://nursejournal.org/articles/can-a-nurse-be-sued-for-malpractice/#:~:text=The%20review%20of%20medical%20malpractice,death%2049%25%20of%20the%20time.