Minimizing the Risks of Practice: What Practitioners Should Know About Lawsuits and the Common Care Issues That Give

1. Minimizing the Risks of Practice: What Practitioners Should Know About Lawsuits and the Common Care Issues That Give Rise to Litigation Nancy Collins, PhD, RD, LD/N, FAPWCA www.RD411.com 954-349-2198

2. Today’s Discussion and Activities Define the elements of malpractice and duty Recognize the common care issues and chain of events that prompt individuals to initiate litigation Define a minimum of three strategies to improve documentation and patient care and reduce the risk of litigation

3. What is Litigation? Recourse to the courts to resolve a dispute (essentially, a lawsuit) May be at the state or federal level May be civil or criminal Different than regulatory compliance

4. What is Litigation? (cont’d) Formal procedure for adjudication (civil) “Complaint” and “Answer” “Discovery”, or exchange of information Interrogatories Document requests Depositions Resolution by judge or jury, often at trial Settlement out of court

5. What gives rise to litigation? Injury or loss allegedly attributable to another A perception of wrongdoing or breach of duty A dissatisfied patron, customer or participation in a transaction – sometimes, breach of contract Bad results or outcomes Negligence Petulance or whim (anyone can bring a lawsuit)

6. Is litigation against RDs and RNs on the rise? Not huge increase, but noticeable RDs and RNs are not necessarily primary defendant But are being joined as co-defendants with other health care providers

7. More Parties = More Dollars Lawyers’ inclination to “sue everyone in sight” Duty to client not to exclude possible wrongdoer Exclusion of party may provide defense to remaining defendants Addition of more parties provides more contributors to settlement pool Multiplicity of defendants may lead to pointing of fingers by some against others

8. Why are there more cases againstdietitians? Increased visibility and participation in health care process The more essential one becomes to the process, the more likely to share in the blame for a bad outcome

9. Professional Malpractice Negligence or carelessness by a member of a profession Civil wrong committed by a person acting in their professional capacity

10. Two Sides of the Coin Facility Advertisement: A state of the art facility that provides cutting edge care provided by caring, knowledgeable and well-trained professionals Plaintiff Attorney Ad: The tragic truth is that the healthcare industry, for the most part, behaves as just that: an industry that houses our ill and infirm loved ones at the lowest cost possible. This means minimal qualifications, inadequate staffing, insufficient training and low wages and high turnover.

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