ED Legal Letter – June 1, 2018
June 1, 2018
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Many ED Visits Documented on Cellphones
Whether such recordings are admissible in court depends on many different factors.
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Survey: More Than Half of EPs Sued for Malpractice at Least Once
Fifty-one percent of EPs have been sued during their career, according to a recent report on medical liability claims frequency, the third highest percentage of all the specialties examined by the study’s authors.
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Legal Exposure for ED and Hospital if Patients Refuse Discharge
Some patients may choose to remain in the ED against medical advice for several social reasons, including the fact the patient has no home, or views a hospital room as safer, more comfortable, or less lonely than going home.
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Good Documentation of ED Consult Makes It Clear EP Met Standard of Care
To avoid needless legal entanglements, experts say EPs should know when they’re in over their heads and remain firm about what they need from a consultant. Invariably, specialists testify that while the EP asked for their opinion, the EP never asked or insisted that the specialist come in — and that had the severity of the situation been explained, the specialist certainly would have come to the ED.
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Undetected Medical Conditions in ‘Psych’ Patients Are Legal Landmine
Once EPs conclude that a patient’s behavior is psychiatric, they may miss underlying medical conditions that are the real cause of the symptoms. This is less likely if a patient is behaving bizarrely, presents with a psychiatric history, and is taking psychiatric medications. Experts recommend obtaining a good history before deciding a patient is psychiatric.