Safety Net

Defendants in the Harvard medical community have a new way to learn about the legal machinery and personal coping strategies they’ll need to be good participants in their defense. Listeners learn how a leading edge litigation preparation video program was incubated through CRICO, with guests Gita Pensa, MD and CRICO’s VP of Claims, Beth Cushing, JD.

What can you say after 45 years defending doctors, nurses, and hospitals in the Harvard medical community? A lot. Defending providers in court requires something different in 2026 than what prevailed in the 1980s, according to John Cassidy, who is retiring as senior partner at Ficksman and Conley. He shares his wisdom and insights for success in medmal defenses today and the future.

Progress in the work to solve a problem that threatens all providers and their patients: doctors often don’t seek mental health care because they fear the impact on their careers.

Communication errors in medmal cases are expensive and becoming more frequent among patients and providers. A new data report from Candello in the Harvard medical community looks at the increasing role played by communication failures, and how more complicated care in the outpatient setting means more complicated communication between providers and patients.

If a clinician is sued for medical malpractice and the case never goes to trial, they dodged a bullet right? A physician defendant shares what it was like to be sued, and going through all the ups and downs of defending himself against charges of negligence before the unexpected happened. His patient dropped the case just before trial.

For primary care clinicians, a top risk area is related to allegations of delayed diagnosis of cancer. Data in the Harvard system show that the top three cancers in primary care litigation are prostate, lung, and breast cancer. Harvard’s Marc Garnick, MD is a national expert on prostate cancer and liability sharing how to communicate with patients about risks and benefits of testing and interventi...

A discussion with two legal experts in the Harvard system about why depositions are critical in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Attorneys Lisa Wichter and Alex Terry use their courtroom experience to explain how affect, demeanor, and preparation can change case outcomes.

In a review of Candello’s database of claims from malpractice insurers across the country, documentation failures emerged in one out of every five medical professional liability cases. They are also much more likely to close with a payment with higher than average dollar amounts.

Investing in patient safety programs not only helps patients, but also prevents large payouts for hospitals. And we can measure it.

Researchers looking for malpractice risks with virtual visits were surprised to learn that teleradiology was leading the way in professional liability claims over the past 12 years. Virtual office visits didn’t show up in the malpractice claims data, but costs and severity associated with teleradiology claims were well above radiology claims with no telehealth component.

Some top-line conclusions are that outpatient harm was relatively common and often serious, with a call to action for intervention in outpatient errors. Drs. David Levine and David Bates of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School are joined by their co-author and CRICO Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Luke Sato, who leads our discussion.

Several Harvard-affiliated medical institutions are piloting a program to provide personalized feedback to physicians about the effect of their behavior and interactions on others. More than 675 individuals have gone through the Rapid Pulse 360 evaluations as of Spring 2024. Can it have an impact on employment practices claims or provider-to-provider communication factors? And can follow-up one-to...

As artificial intelligence, or AI, takes off in the public sphere, what about medicine? The health care industry has been using some form of AI for decades, yet very recent advancements are upping the ante. This episode of Safety Net presents excerpts from a recent talk to malpractice attorneys by health care AI expert, Dr. Steven Horng, MD, MMSC, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvar...

The Harvard teaching hospitals and their affiliated institutions have banded together to tackle one of the most difficult and deadly challenges that face all health care providers: clinical tests and specialty referrals that are lost to follow-up. Anecdotal evidence already shows patients who were rescued by the Ambulatory Safety Net project. Navigators are convincing patients to follow through, a...

In late 2023, the Academic Medical Center Patient Safety Organization issued an advisory noting a spike in reports of retained surgical items. A retained surgical item is patient safety lingo for when the surgical team leaves something like a sponge or a tool inside the patient after surgery. These events may lead to serious harm, such as sepsis, prolonged hospitalization, the need for subsequent...

The topline data from Candello claims analysis do not show an increase in malpractice corresponding to the increased use of APPs. In fact, the claims rate may be declining, adjusting for practice population increases.

A former doctor defendant found meaning after the ordeal despite her lack of preparation or role models. Dr. Gita Pensa, an emergency medicine physician, made it her professional focus to help other physicians through to the other side of the litigation journey.

The boarding of critical care patients in the emergency department is an increasing concern because ICUs are often also too full to take them.

Healthcare providers are facing new threats from online attacks that require new strategies to limit liability, harm to patients, and revenue loss. In spring of 2023, the Academic Medical Center Patient Safety Organization (AMC PSO), issued an updated Patient Safety Alert: Cyber Security and Recovery, available on the CRICO web site.

A new study that looks at when, where, and how medical errors occur in the in-patient setting is shining a bright light on threats to patient safety and quality in health care. A topline result of a 25 percent error rate for hospital admissions is getting a lot of attention. Lead author David Bates and others explain the implications for everyone in health care from the board room to the bedside.

Admitting patients to their own homes for hospital care: many factors are coming together to make the “Home Hospital” a hot topic in health care delivery. A roomful of defense attorneys in Boston recently heard about the risks and benefits from the MGB leader in charge of the largest such program in the country.

When it comes to medical notes in patient charts, copying and pasting carries risks of confusion, patient harm, and liability for providers.

Recent data from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine show that sexual harassment and gender discrimination affect up to 50 percent of women medical students and more than 50 percent of women faculty in medicine. It affects men too.

It is estimated that thousands of medical specimens are lost each month. The impact on the diagnostic process when a specimen is lost is of particular concern. In early 2022, a patient safety document was published by the Academic Medical Center Patient Safety Organization (AMC PSO), to describe ways to prevent harm to patients when specimens are lost. Safety Net interviews two participants with s...

Hundreds of patients are harmed in OR fires every year. Experts in patient safety want hospitals and providers to focus more on lowering the potential for fire during surgery.