How to Avoid Medicolegal Problems

Abstract

The potential for legal liability causes concern among physicians and influences the practice of medicine. The fear of being sued, however, may be overblown, create a disproportionate emphasis on achieving clinical perfection, and lead to potential conflicts of interest that challenge the fiduciary nature of the doctor-patient relationship. There are predictive factors of whether a patient chooses to sue his or her physician—many of which center on communication—and these factors help give rise to strategies for preventing and dealing with medicolegal issues. In addition to practicing good medicine at the individual and systems level, a physician can decrease liability exposure through respectful, sincere, and open communication with patients and good documentation. When medical errors do occur, thoughtful disclosure is often the appropriate response from both a risk management and ethical perspective. Institutional resources such as risk management professionals, legal counsel, and ethics committees are available to help ­physicians minimize risk both preemptively and in response to actual medicolegal issues.