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Education
We offer various seminars based on CPPA research. Our seminars are designed to help healthcare leaders and practicing professionals think through the implications of selected medical malpractice research findings:
- Approximately 1-6% of hospitalized patients experience unexpected adverse outcomes. Approximately one third of these adverse outcomes are associated with medical negligence. Only about 2% of patients injured through medical negligence sue, but about 5 times more patients sue despite seeming lack of medically valid claims.
- A relatively small proportion of physicians within each area of medicine appear to attract a disproportionate share of malpractice suits, and those physicians whose malpractice risk is high in one period tend to be sued more often during subsequent time intervals.
- Why are these physicians sued more often? Technical quality of care is not particularly predictive,and more non-economic than monetary factors motivate patients to sue. Specifically, important predictors of claims filed per physician include patient/family perceptions of physician interest, accessibility, and communication skills.
- As a result, risk managers, medical directors, and medical center leaders are not surprised by our finding that, even when field of medicine and RVU production are controlled, unsolicited patient complaints recorded by an institution’s patient advocates (variously called ombudsmen, patient relations or patient affairs representatives, service excellence providers, etc.) predict physicians’ risk management activity.
Please contact us if you are interested in hosting or participating in any of the following seminars.
CPPA Workshops and Seminars
Seminar 1: The How and When of Disclosing Adverse Outcomes and Errors
Healthcare providers face a variety of challenges when confronted with situations where adverse events or errors occur, and few have the training to address such challenges. Most often, healthcare professionals are left to deal with patient/family perceptions of care provided, their expectations for error resolution, and potential institutional costs without the skills needed to successfully navigate the disclosure process. The How and When of Communicating Adverse Outcomes and Errors seeks to address this issue by providing a program that not only teaches necessary disclosure skills, but also prepares participants to implement similar workshops in their home institutions. This interactive case-based workshop teaches disclosure strategies in circumstances where 1) adverse outcomes have occurred and when medical errors may or may not have contributed; 2) when professional colleagues disagree about causes of adverse outcomes; 3) and when patients’ perceptions differ dramatically from those of the health professionals. Punctuating these cases is an outline of basic disclosure principles and a review of lessons learned from safety and malpractice research literature. The goal is not to script participants. Rather, we encourage professionals to actively think through the pros and cons of various options using a “balance beam” approach to disclosure.
Seminar 2: Identifying and Intervening on High Malpractice Risk Physicians
Malpractice risk is a concern of hospitals, medical centers, and healthcare professionals. Research conducted by the faculty of the CPPA reveals that unsolicited patient complaints provide a data source that can be used to identify physicians and service units with greater levels of risk management-related activity. This seminar describes a peer-led, stepwise intervention model designed to make high malpractice risk colleagues aware of their status and help healthcare leaders identify and address reoccurring sources of patient dissatisfaction that drive unnecessary risk. To date, CPPA personnel have overseen more than 1,300 interventions involving physicians in practices ranging from small rural facilities to large metropolitan institutions. Results of interventions reveal that most physicians respond favorably to the peer-based messenger model while some either leave their institutions (perhaps seeking a geographic cure) or require more direct approaches involving institution authorities.
Seminar 3: Dealing with ‘Special’ Colleagues: Discouraging Disruptive Behavior
Although many features distinguish a profession, one of the most important is responsibility for the conduct of its members. Unfortunately, administrative leaders of health care institutions often do not have training in, or strategies for, dealing with disruptive behavior. Without the proper tools, health care professionals seemingly tolerate a certain amount of unprofessional behavior in their institutions.
Disruptive behavior by healthcare professionals is first and foremost a threat to quality of care and patient safety, while also affecting staff morale and increasing cost burdens to a healthcare organization. This presentation will give medical center leaders the needed tools and strategies to address disruptive conduct, providing a comprehensive plan adaptable to all healthcare organizations. Furthermore, the methodology presented in this presentation is an essential component of a plan to address The Joint Commission’s July 2008 Alert entitled “Behaviors that undermine a culture of safety” (http://www.jointcommission.org/SentinelEvents/SentinelEventAlert/sea_40.htm).
Seminar 4:How to Get the Most from Your Patient Relations Department and Service Recovery Program (“HTGTM”)
Service Recovery is often defined as making right what the patient or family member perceives went wrong in the course of their health care. It is a way to promote patient involvement as important members of the healthcare team, and a commitment to excellent service recovery distinguishes your health system from others. Through case-based discussions, this presentation will describe the importance of service recovery to your organization’s quality of care and bottom line. A model for service recovery will be provided, along with guidelines for documenting concerns and strategies for improving complaint capture. Lastly, a method of trending documented concerns will be discussed and data on the effectiveness of the method presented.
Seminar 5: Why Patients Sue Their Doctors
Malpractice risk is a concern of hospitals, medical centers, and healthcare professionals. Studies show that malpractice risk is related in large measure to patient/family dissatisfaction with their experience of care. If this is the case, medical groups and medical centers can use certain data to identify physicians at increased risk of being sued and intervene to reduce that risk. Research conducted by the faculty of the Center for Patient and Professional Advocacy at Vanderbilt shows that unsolicited patient complaints can be used to reliably identify and address physicians and service units with greater levels of risk management-related activity. As a result, the CPPA created the PARS® program, the discussion of which concludes this presentation.
For more information about these programs, please contact Ms. Anna Caruso Hayden, Dr. Pichert, Mr. Hickman, or Dr. Hickson.
Disclaimer: This publication and these presentations are designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. They are produced and presented with the understanding that the authors and faculty are not engaged in rendering legal advice or other professional service.
