Home » Government Articles » More Emergency Room Physician's Assistants May Raise Malpractice Claims
More Emergency Room Physician's Assistants May Raise Malpractice Claims
One trend occurring in emergency departments across America is the increased use of physician's assistants (PAs) to diagnose and treat patients.
July 17, 2011 /Government PR News/ -- One trend occurring in emergency departments across America is the increased use of physician's assistants (PAs) to diagnose and treat patients. While this practice minimizes staff costs and reduces the burden on primary care physicians, hiring more PAs could expose hospitals to further medical malpractice claims because of mistakes like medication errors or misdiagnoses. When it becomes necessary to visit an emergency room, patients should be aware of who is treating them and verify any diagnoses with staff physicians.
PAs in Emergency Departments
According to the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA), between 1996 and 2008 the percentage of PAs practicing in family medicine dropped from 39.8 percent to 25.9 percent. This decrease shows the movement of many PA jobs into specialty areas like emergency departments, which more patients are visiting every year. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) data shows that from 1996 to 2006, patient use of emergency rooms rose by 32 percent, creating issues such as overcrowding and longer wait times.
As reported by HHS, PAs treat around 10 percent of all emergency room patients annually. Both hospitals and patients have benefitted from the increased use of PAs in emergency departments. Some advantages are lower costs for staff and medical care, shorter wait times, briefer stays, more personal attention for patients, and allowing physicians to focus on more critical patients. However, some think this movement toward hiring more PAs can compromise the quality of patient care and create additional risks for malpractice.
Medical Malpractice Risks
While emergency department PAs operate under the supervision of primary care physicians, there is still room for medical errors. According to one medical liability study performed by the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) in 2008, there were 1,535 reported medical malpractice payment incidents against PAs between 1991 and 2007. The average payout cost medical providers around $80,003. Although this number was significantly lower than reports and payments for physicians, there were multiple areas where PAs made medical errors.
According to the NPDB study, the five major categories where PAs received the most malpractice reports were in the areas of diagnosis (55.5%), treatment (24.6%), medication (8.5%), surgery (4.6%) and miscellaneous (3.1%). To help keep the occurrence of these medical errors in check, emergency room patients should beware of who is treating them.
Patients Beware
As a patient, it may be difficult to follow and understand everything that is going on during an emergency room visit, so it is important to have a friend or family member present as an advocate and to help question any confusing or seemingly incorrect care by PAs. To ensure that emergency department patients receive appropriate medical care when tended to by PAs, patients should also verify any diagnoses given to them by PAs, as well as check in with the supervising physician on duty about any treatment or medications recommended by PAs.
The continued use of PAs in emergency rooms could result in more patients receiving bad medical advice, unsatisfactory medical service and, in some cases, serious conditions that could worsen if left untreated. One example of this was Art Ervine of Georgia, who was diagnosed by a PA with a sore throat and ear infection, treated and released. However, his illness worsened until a physician realized he had bacterial meningitis. His initially incorrect diagnosis by the PA put him in a coma, and eventually left him totally disabled.
Legal Remedies
Hospitals may overlook the possible increase in medical malpractice risks with using more PAs in their emergency rooms to instead highlight the rewards of lower staff costs and quicker patient turnaround times. However, for many emergency room patients who suffer injuries or death because of negligent treatment or medical errors by PAs, focusing more on the rewards than the risks can be dangerous for everyone involved. However, there are legal remedies that harmed patients can pursue.
Medical malpractice claims against medical professionals, including physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners and PAs, are handled similarly with regard to litigation. If you are a patient injured by a medical professional, or the family member of a patient killed because of negligent medical care or a medical error, contact a local personal injury attorney experienced in handling medical malpractice litigation. An attorney can help you hold those responsible for your injuries accountable, and help you seek compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, and any long-term care that may be necessary.
Article provided by Law Office of Michels & Watkins
Visit us at www.michelswatkins.com
---
Press release service and press release distribution provided by http://www.24-7pressrelease.com |
|
|
Press Release Contact Information:
Findlaw PR
|
|
|
|
|
| GOVERNMENT ARCHIVE SEARCH |
|
|
| |
|
|
Advertise With Us |
About Us |
Contact Us