It is another busy night in the emergency department (ED), but you are managing to keep up with the tempo. However, the next chart in the rack is bound to slow your pace: It is an 83-year-old man with the chief complaint of "not feeling well."
This is a two-part series on liability risks involving ED triage processes. This month, we cover the impact of wait times on ED lawsuits, and ways to reduce risks during long wait times.
To reduce legal risks, Linda M. Stimmel, JD, a partner with the Dallas, TX-based law firm of Stewart Stimmel, says the best strategy is to "show diligence." Document your ED's efforts to provide adequate staffing and educate staff and physicians on improved triage techniques, such as attendance logs on inservices to improve triage.
Your daughter calls you from a party and tells you that she is on her way home. Two hours later, she hasn't arrived and she does not answer her cell phone. You call the emergency department (ED) and ask if she is registered as a patient there.
Was an abnormal lab result missed, such as a potassium level of 2.5? Was an incorrect medication prescribed? Or was a radiology study misinterpreted which revealed a pneumothorax? In every one of these scenarios, it is necessary for the ED physician to call the patient...
