Plastic Surgery
Professional Education
Patient Relations: Spotlight on Challenging Situations
The Doctors Company’s dedicated patient safety risk managers deliver a wide range of expert services and resources to our members—including personal telephone consultations to help guide members through challenging situations. A recent review of our call data shows that “patient relations” and “patient termination” consistently appear as the top reasons that members request assistance. The following strategies can help prevent challenging patient situations and provide guidance if one occurs.
Professional Education
Pathologists and Surgeons Can Collaborate to Reduce Diagnostic Error
The Doctors Company has updated the claims filed against pathologists between the years 2015 and 2020. The information provides quantitative and qualitative data that a pathologist and surgeon would find meaningful in reducing diagnostic error. This program provides a breakdown of where patient injuries occur involving pathologists and surgeons and how collaboration between the two disciplines can improve patient outcomes.
Professional Education
Patient Safety in Spine Surgery
Spine surgery requires a series of best practice patient safety
interventions to reduce the frequency and severity of patient harm while
giving the care team the resources to mitigate such harm. Evidence-based clinical methods, pathways, and tools coupled with an evolving culture of patient safety through effective communication, teams, and teamwork has shown to reduce patient harm exponentially. Patient and clinical team experiences are enhanced while ensuring a learning culture is built that approaches surgery from both a technical and nontechnical approach alike.
Professional Education
Risky Practices: Hidden Liabilities Identified by Medical Office Assessments
Office practice assessments by The Doctors Company's patient safety risk managers uncover hidden liability risks, often exposing areas where patients can "fall through the cracks" and leave the practice vulnerable to a malpractice claim. Our Practice Risk INSIGHT, an assessment tool customized by specialty, zeros in on problematic areas. The assessments have been completed across a range of practice environments around the country—from small offices to practices that are part of large integrated delivery systems. In this course, we analyze the results of the Practice Risk INSIGHT assessments, highlight problem-prone areas and offer strategies to minimize liability.
Professional Education
Telehealth: Review Your Service Components
Many practices implemented telehealth overnight in response to pandemic restrictions on elective care. Practices already using telehealth saw huge increases in volume. This program presents a roadmap for practices to evaluate their telehealth implementation using the best practice tips identified herein and their own lessons learned.
Apr 02, 2021
Pre-Procedural Screening and Testing During COVID-19
Throughout the pandemic, surgeons have faced many challenges in adapting to new situations. Now that facilities have resumed elective surgeries, surgeons are facing additional challenges in evaluating and scheduling patients who have recovered from COVID-19. The strategies highlighted here can help ensure a consistent approach in keeping both patients and providers safe.
Mar 24, 2021
Patient Selection for Elective Cosmetic Procedures
The patient selection process is a valuable tool that can help you reduce risks when you assess prospective patients for elective cosmetic procedures.
Mar 09, 2021
Dermatology: Patient Safety Strategies for Telehealth
Many types of dermatologic conditions lend themselves to remote examination for diagnosis and management. These teledermatology strategies can help you reduce risks and keep your patients safe.
Mar 08, 2021
Patient Safety Strategies for Dermatology
Take steps to reduce risks in dermatology by reviewing your practices and systems and implementing these strategies.
Professional Education
TeamSTEPPS® Teamwork Training in the Office Practice
This course provides an overview of the evidence-based TeamSTEPPS® concepts, tools, and strategies based on the four areas of 1) leadership, 2) mutual support, 3) situation monitoring, and 4) communication. TeamSTEPPS training provides teachable/learnable skills that improve
communication and teamwork among healthcare professionals in both acute care and ambulatory care environments.
Professional Education
HIPAA Fundamentals: 2021 Edition
This on-demand program provides an orientation to the basic requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA gives patients many rights with respect to their health information.
Professional Education
HIPAA for Managers: The High-Level View
The program explores and defines HIPAA policies and procedures, business associate agreements, security assessment and analysis, training requirements, HIPAA compliance requirements, breach events, and informed consent.
Professional Education
Prevention of Diagnostic Error in Primary Care
Diagnostic errors occur often in primary care settings and can impact over 12 million outpatients annually. This is a top patient safety concern and a global burden. Significant patient harm can occur due to treatment delay, testing, or misdiagnosis. This course is an opportunity to promote awareness and visibility by identifying where these errors occur most often in the diagnostic process of care framework.
Professional Education
It's the Little Things: An Introduction to Enhancing Patient Relations and Reducing Risks
It's the Little Things is designed to assist medical practices with improvements in patient interactions by looking at how incorporating hospitality as a focus makes a difference. It has been developed to improve multiple facets of patient interaction.
Professional Education
Lessons Learned – Plastic Surgery Closed Claims Study: An Expert Analysis of Medical Malpractice Allegations
This course is based on the findings of a study conducted by The Doctors Company that analyzed 415 claims that closed against plastic surgeons (from July 2015–December 2018).
Professional Education
Medical Error Prevention
The purpose of this monograph and continuing medical education activity is to provide physicians with the most current information regarding the prevention of common performance and diagnostic errors.
Video Oct 19, 2020
Is There a Role for Telehealth in Plastic Surgery?
David L. Feldman, MD, MBA, FACS, chief medical officer of The Doctors Company and the TDC Group of Companies, explores the role of telehealth in plastic surgery.
Professional Education
Safe and Effective Opioid Prescribing – Florida Edition
The Doctors Company recognizes the opioid epidemic in this country. This course provides insights into the risks of opioid usage, as shown by malpractice claims, and how to reduce those risks both for your patient and for your practice. Approved by the Florida Board of Medicine—Controlled Substance Prescribing.
Professional Education
Prevention of Medical Errors: CME Risk Management Course for Florida Practices
This activity is specific to Florida statutes and reflects regulations effective February 2020. Few medical errors are attributed to faulty medical judgment. More commonly, they are attributed to system failures inherent in healthcare delivery. By drawing on our professional liability closed claims data, we have identified common performance and diagnostic errors that reflect on the most common issues identified by Florida—wrong site surgery, surgery complications, cancer, Ob/Gyn related conditions, gastroenterology conditions, cardiology issues, neurological issues, and adverse drug events—that will serve as the focal point of this patient safety and risk management course.
Professional Education
Telemedicine to Telehealth: Trends and Emerging Risks
This course explores challenges and risks such as privacy and security, licensure, and technology concerns that might instigate a malpractice claim. The risks overlay the inherent challenge of replicating the interaction of a traditional, in-person encounter between a provider and a patient, without compromising the standard of care. It also provides resources for clinicians and practice managers to consider when making decisions about deploying telehealth services or to improve existing services.
Aug 28, 2020
Dispensing Sample Medications: Risk Management Strategies
If not carefully managed, sample medications can create issues that place patients and the practice at risk.
Aug 25, 2020
Distracting Devices in Healthcare: Malpractice Implications
Digital distraction in healthcare is a threat to patient safety and physician well-being. Personal electronic devices can create a digital distraction so engaging that it consumes awareness, potentially preventing healthcare providers from focusing on the primary task at hand—caring for and interacting with patients.
Professional Education
Making an Informed Consent an Informed Choice: Training for Healthcare Leaders
This activity is designed for healthcare professionals in leadership positions. It covers the principles of informed consent, crafting and disseminating an informed consent policy, and building systems to improve the informed consent process.
Professional Education
Making an Informed Consent an Informed Choice: Training for Healthcare Professionals
This activity, designed for doctors, nurses, and other providers, examines problems with the process of healthcare informed consent. It describes the principles of informed consent and highlights the benefits gained from a good informed consent process.
Jun 18, 2020
Moderate or Conscious Sedation in the Office Setting
Prevent patient injury when providing moderate sedation in the office by incorporating these patient safety and practice improvement strategies.
Professional Education
Physician-Patient Relationship: When Does it Begin and When Does it End?
This enduring program will assist the participant in understanding the principles which form the establishment of a physician-patient relationship, as well as the concerns which may result in the need for the physician to consider terminating the physician-patient relationship. Additionally, the concepts of providing patient centered care will be presented for the learner’s consideration.
May 15, 2020
Plastic Surgery: Frequently Asked Patient Safety Questions
Our experts answer questions from plastic surgeons, addressing issues such as patient selection and managing patient expectations.
May 01, 2020
Informed Consent for COVID-19 Risks: Frequently Asked Questions
To support our members and the entire medical profession during this unprecedented time, the following are answers to some frequently asked questions regarding informed consent for COVID-19 risks.
Professional Education
General Surgery: Miscommunication and Inaccurate Documentation
Failures of systems often prevent physicians from making timely diagnoses. Failures may result when documentation is inconsistent or not thoroughly read. Other factors that hinder timely diagnosis include inadequate hand-offs or referrals.
Professional Education
Internal Medicine: When Personal Relationships Interfere with the Standard of Care
Physicians and dentists are often faced with the decision whether to treat friends and families without realizing the inherent risks in doing so. A review of one case will highlight some common circumstances and risks associated with the treatment of friends and family members.
Professional Education
Safe and Effective Opioid Prescribing - Georgia Edition
This three-hour learning activity provides instruction on controlled substance prescribing guidelines, recognizing signs of abuse or misuse of controlled substances, and controlled substance prescribing for chronic pain management, as delineated in Georgia Rule 360-15-.01. It also provides tools and resources to assist in educating staff and informing patients.
Professional Education
Prescribing Opioids Safely
Faced with an opioid-related epidemic that continues to bring addiction and deaths, it is important to define the role of opioids for both acute and chronic pain management. This activity spotlights the epidemic and presents the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, regulations, studies, and emerging solutions to address the epidemic and allow for effective and appropriate use of these drugs.
Professional Education
Safe and Effective Opioid Prescribing - Michigan Edition
This three-hour learning activity provides instruction on controlled substance prescribing guidelines, recognizing signs of abuse or misuse of controlled substances, and requirements delineated in Michigan’s law. It also provides tools and resources to assist in educating staff and informing patients.
Nov 05, 2019
When Treating Kids, Learn from the Emergency Department
To prevent communication gaps when treating kids, all specialties can benefit from lessons learned in the Emergency Department, where conversations are rushed, stakes are high, teams are assembled ad hoc, and physicians seldom have relationships with the patient.
Aug 27, 2019
Electronic Health Records Continue to Lead to Medical Malpractice Suits
We analyzed 216 medical malpractice claims that closed from 2010 to 2018 in which EHRs contributed to patient injury. The pace of these claims grew, from a low of seven cases in 2010 to an average of 22.5 cases per year in 2017 and 2018. As EHRs approach near-universal adoption, they may become a more prevalent source of patient safety risk.
Professional Education
Physical Examination and Its Impact on Outcomes
Advancements in technology improve the timeliness and accuracy of many diagnoses but the technology does not replace a thorough physical examination. For some diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, herpes zoster, cellulitis, and Bell’s palsy the PE is the only diagnostic tool available. This short course makes the case for reversing the downward trend for physical examinations.
Professional Education
Opioid Pain Management and Appropriate Prescribing for Older Adults
This activity includes five video segments on effective pain management and appropriate prescribing of opioid medication for older adult patients. Presenters include a family practice physician, orthopedic surgeon, palliative care physician, and a pain management specialist provider.
Nov 28, 2018
Plastic Surgery Closed Claims Study
We analyzed 1,438 malpractice claims against plastic surgeons to understand what motivates patients to pursue claims and gain a broader overview of the system failures and processes that result in patient harm.
Video Sep 27, 2018
Future of Healthcare: Physicians Won't Recommend Their Profession
The Future of Healthcare Survey of over 3,400 doctors shows physicians are disenchanted with practicing medicine, largely because of technologies and payment models they say are interfering with the doctor-patient relationship and their ability to provide quality care. Despite continuing volatility in the industry and resulting dissatisfaction, one of the predominant themes captured in this survey is the concern physicians share for their patients and the quality of the care they receive.
Video Feb 12, 2018
Plastic Surgery: Innovations in Patient Safety
Phillip Haeck, MD, a plastic surgeon at the Polyclinic in Seattle, Washington, describes changes his practice made to improve patient safety based on the data and recommendations in The Doctors Company’s Plastic Surgery Closed Claims Study. The study revealed that 10 percent of claims against plastic surgeons involved a communication problem—miscommunication or failure to communicate between the doctor and staff or between the patient and doctor.
Aug 28, 2017
The Search for Mary Smith
A case study illustrating the importance of researching healthcare technologies thoroughly before implementing them.
From
The Doctor’s Advocate
Feb 18, 2017
Up for Review: Five Keys to Managing Online Criticism
No matter how professional and caring a doctor you may be, eventually you will face criticism on the web. Here are five keys to managing that criticism.
Video Sep 22, 2016
Why Plastic Surgeons Get Sued
Why do plastic surgeons get sued, and how do patients get injured? The Doctors Company’s study of 1,438 closed claims against plastic surgeons revealed the most common patient allegations and the most common factors that lead to patient injury.