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Dec 02, 2024
Foundation Announces 2024 Grant Recipients
The Doctors Company Foundation awarded three new grants in 2024.
From The Doctor’s Advocate

Mar 04, 2024
Loss Lessons: Practicing Out of Bounds
Our complimentary on-demand course provides strategies for establishing policies and protocols to address scope of practice for unlicensed staff.
From The Doctor’s Advocate

Feb 07, 2025
Dental Risk Self-Assessment: Exclusively for Members
The Doctors Company’s online Dental Risk Self-Assessment exclusively for members can identify hidden liability risks in your dental practice. Regardless of the size of your practice or whether you are a general practitioner or a dental specialist, this easy-to-navigate self-assessment will guide you through common pitfalls in dental practices and provide you with risk management resources and strategies to prevent adverse outcomes and patient harm.

Pediatrics: Consider Car Window Hammers for Your Office Emergency Response Kit
Seconds count if an infant, toddler, or young child is accidentally locked inside a hot vehicle. A car window hammer can be a lifesaving tool to include in an emergency response cart or kit.

Professional Education
Loss Lessons: Recognition of Wernicke Encephalopathy
Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) is a syndrome commonly seen in patients with alcohol use disorder who do not take adequate thiamine. WE should be suspected in any patient with conditions that may lead to malnutrition in combination with any of the following symptoms: altered mental status ophthalmoplegia, ataxia, delirium, and hypotension. Considered a medical emergency, it must be reversed to prevent permanent deficits. This case illustrates a cascade of errors which led to permanent disability. Some practical interventions to quickly recognize and reverse the condition are offered following the case presentation, which will be helpful for gastroenterology/gastroenterologists, ophthalmology/ophthalmologists, and neurology/neurologists.

Professional Education
Preventing Errors in Preoperative Clearance (Claims Corner)
Primary care providers (PCPs) routinely manage complex elderly patients with multiple comorbidities who require elective surgery. Errors can occur when providers are rushed, there is a lack of effective interoffice communication, and the patient has a low health literacy. Communication and care coordination issues are commonly noted among PCPs and consulting specialists. The Doctors Company has analyzed closed claims where PCPs have been held responsible for failures in surgical mismanagement, specifically preop clearance. This program will highlight the contributing factors identified in malpractice claims involving medical clearance and provide practice strategies for reducing liability risk.

Professional Education
Preventing Dictation Errors for Advanced Practice Clinicians
Emergency medicine providers are increasingly using voice recognition programs, such as Dragon Direct Voice Recognition Program, to document encounters. In reviewing closed malpractice claims, The Doctors Company identified dictation errors as a significant patient safety risk factor. The following case highlights the importance of timely recognition of dictation errors to ensure accuracy of the permanent electronic health record (EHR). This is particularly important when using a voice recognition program to document encounters in the busy emergency department. In this case, the voice recognition system was Dragon Direct Voice Recognition Program.

Mar 07, 2023
Education: Preventing Diagnostic Error in Primary Care
Our complimentary on-demand course outlines best practices for the diagnostic process and offers prevention strategies related to the primary care setting.
From The Doctor’s Advocate

Dispensing Sample Medications: Risk Management Strategies
If not carefully managed, sample medications can create issues that place patients and the practice at risk.

Identifying Malpractice Risks for Surgical Practices
Understanding that the causes of claims are multifactorial and rarely result from individual judgment or technical skill alone can help surgeons improve outcomes.