The Other Side of Risk

Last time I posted, the topic was risk tolerance. I tried to make the point that some, perhaps much, of the cost of healthcare is related to how comfortable providers (physicians, nurse practitioners, etc) are with risk. If I am very uncomfortable with risk, then I can certainly spend a great deal of money over turning every rock in search of a diagnosis on behalf of my patient. But, there is another aspect of risk, the externally imposed specter of malpractice lawsuits. Now, I freely admit to some bias in this regard. In a twenty-plus year career as an emergency physician, I have been sued three times. In only one of those cases did I actually see or treat the patient. In one case, I wasn’t even in town when the patient was seen in the emergency department and yet, I somehow was named in the suit and my employer... continue reading...