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Are you about to start a chiropractic practice? Before you open your doors, reduce the risk of litigation and malpractice claims when starting your chiropractic practice with these simple but effective tips.

Start Small

Whether starting a chiropractic practice or any new business, it’s best to begin lean and small. As you acquire more patients and your practice expands, you can increase the staff, if necessary, but most practices only have a handful of employees anyway.

One of the most common mistakes for new practices and businesses is overreaching too early and extending resources and money too thin at the beginning. Start with the basics and expand from there if needed.

Keep Accurate Records

Thorough documentation is crucial to any medical practice. Chiropractic practices must maintain accurate and secure medical records to help reduce malpractice risk and better treat patients.

For medical practices, there are three options for documentation—old-fashioned paper records, electronic medical records, and more comprehensive electronic health records. Consider your staff and documentation capability before choosing one system for your practice.

Create a Positive Office Experience

Another way to ensure that your patients are happy is to create a positive office experience in your practice. Whether they interact with only you or multiple employees, patient personal interactions can significantly influence whether they seek a malpractice claim.

Pro Tip: Consider an automatic call distribution or voice mail system to provide immediate assistance or help to patients in an emergency.

Patients who feel mistreated or disrespected are much more likely to file a malpractice claim than those who had a positive experience with the staff. Simple things like courtesy and maintaining appointments can go a long way in reducing risk for practices.

Get Insurance

Perhaps the most effective way to reduce risk when starting a chiropractic practice is to ensure you and your employees are covered by insurance. Chiropractic malpractice insurance is essential for any medical practice in case of errors or misunderstandings during treatment.

Without adequate professional liability insurance, you may be financially responsible for paying out a malpractice claim against an employee or for a mistake you had nothing to do with.

Emphasize Communication

Communication is at the heart of many malpractice claims. Emphasize it for yourself, and the rest of your team is crucial to reducing risk. Clear communication between you and the patient, the patient to you, and the patient to staff are essential for a well-functioning practice.

Make sure the patient is clear on the treatment, its effects, and the goals of the treatment before proceeding. And make sure there are clear procedures and rules with staff about communicating clearly and effectively.

Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) fulfill an essential role in healthcare, but with that responsibility comes risks and consequences when mistakes happen. In our guide, we’ll go over some of the most common errors from CRNAs in their profession that cause malpractice claims against them.

We’ll explain how these errors happen and offer some strategies on how CRNAs can avoid risk.

Do CRNAs Get Sued Often?

Before we get into the errors that may cause malpractice claims against CRNAs, we have to ask: do they get sued that often?

Yes. It isn’t uncommon to be named in a lawsuit as a nurse anesthetist.

CRNAs are not shielded from litigation and are the targets of malpractice claims if the patient determines an individual mistake from the CRNA caused their pain and suffering. CRNAs are the most frequently sued nursing specialty. The number of CRNAs as defendants has steadily grown over the years, and experts forecast the litigation to continue as the number of malpractice lawsuits grows.

Common CRNA Mistakes That Cause Malpractice Claims

While CRNAs are not always the focus of malpractice litigation, some individual mistakes can get traced back to errors from CRNAs. In cases of these mistakes, CRNAs can become the target of litigation and held responsible for a patient’s suffering or even expiration. With that in mind, here are some common CRNA mistakes to watch out for.

Communication Problems

A common theme in many malpractice claims against CRNAs is that a lack of communication between the patient, CRNA, and anesthesiologist resulted in improper or inadequate procedures. CRNAs often have multiple patients to monitor, and most require extra care—some are in the preassessment stage, some are getting prepped for anesthesia, and others are in post-op observation.

With so many patients to juggle, it’s easy for things to get missed, lost in translation, or forgotten entirely. A common example of a communication problem is when a CRNA or anesthesiologist conducts a pre-anesthetic evaluation but doesn’t discuss findings with the other parties, resulting in a faulty anesthesia plan that harms the patient.

Improper Positioning

Another common error that CRNAs must avoid in their profession is unsuitable patient positioning during anesthesia and operation. During a procedure involving anesthesia, it falls on the CRNA and physician to position the body safely and harmlessly—sometimes for many hours.

Anyone who’s taken a nap on a couch understands that if your positioning is off for too long, you can wake up with a sleepy arm or leg. In procedures, awkward positioning can cause more lasting nerve damage and even loss of motor function in some cases.

Dental Damage

One of the primary duties of many CRNAs is to intubate patients. Intubation involves inserting a tube into a patient’s throat to ensure an open airway for breathing throughout the operation.

CRNAs may do this procedure thousands of times over their career, which is often a mundane task—but there’s still possible damage to the patient. One of the most common malpractice claims against CRNAs revolves around dental damage during intubation, where the patient’s teeth were accidentally chipped, cracked, loosened, or even knocked out.

Insufficient Assessment & Evaluation

CRNAs are also often responsible for performing the anesthesia preassessment, evaluation, and obtaining the patient’s informed consent. During these duties, it’s not uncommon for mistakes to get made, like a part of the patient’s history gets missed or the patient feels they weren’t fully informed before the procedure.

It’s the patient’s right to have the procedure explained to them, along with who will be performing it and their qualifications. It’s also the patient’s right to ask that only an anesthesiologist perform specific duties instead of a CRNA. There have been malpractice claims where patients felt they weren’t duly informed of the procedure or that they could request an anesthesiologist to perform certain tasks—resulting in the CRNA getting targeted for omitting important information.

Documentation Errors

Paperwork is vital to the job of a CRNA and everyone working in the healthcare field. Unfortunately, insufficient documentation is a typical reason for mistakes and for patients to file malpractice suits against CRNAs and other personnel.

If a CRNA fails to sufficiently update a patient’s documentation—like a patient’s history, physician’s orders, or medication prescription—it can have dire consequences later. Without all information, anesthesiologists and other physicians might administer harmful medication to the patient or perform dangerous procedures, making the CRNA liable for not updating the documentation correctly.

Neglecting Observational Duties

Much of a CRNA’s job is monitoring patients before and after administering anesthesia. Often, this observation is only prudent, and the patient recuperates painlessly from the procedure and anesthesia.

But, as we mentioned, CRNAs are often responsible for monitoring multiple patients simultaneously, and some can fall through the cracks with dire consequences. Suppose a patient begins to experience complications from the surgery or anesthesia, but the CRNA fails to notify the physician or help the patient in time. In that case, it can lead to more severe health damage or even death. In those cases, an investigation could find the CRNA responsible as their duty was the observation of the patient.

Strategies for Decreasing Risk as a CRNA

What can CRNAs do to decrease these risks and errors on the job? CRNAs are only human, so mistakes are bound to happen, but there are ways to help avoid and mitigate these risks as much as possible.

Obtain Informed Consent

Informed consent is at the heart of many malpractice claims against CRNAs—patients feel they weren’t duly informed of the dangers or the qualifications of personnel performing them. So, informed consent is an essential part of the preassessment process for CRNAs.

Ensure that the patient fully understands the anesthesia plan and knows their rights as a patient before consenting.

Have Malpractice Insurance

As we’ve said, mistakes happen—but when they do, they don’t have to cost a CRNA their career or financial security. That’s why CRNA liability insurance is essential for every CRNA.

Without proper malpractice insurance, CRNAs can have their entire financial future and career turned upside down because of one mistake or perceived error.

Avoid Burnout

Burnout is among the most common problems for nurses in healthcare, even CRNAs. Medical professionals can experience burnout from working long hours under stressful conditions and an imbalanced personal and work life.

When CRNAs experience burnout, they’re more likely to make mistakes, so mental health and wellness are also essential for CRNAs. CRNAs should do their best to maintain a healthy personal life outside of work, get plenty of rest, or even seek mental health counseling if they think it could improve their mental state.

If you have any further questions about malpractice insurance, don’t hesitate to contact our expert staff at Baxter & Associates. We can help you get the protection you need.

The best thing to do when it comes to medical malpractice insurance is to conduct thorough research. Every question has an answer with a little help and digging. To start your journey into the insurance world, here is medical malpractice insurance: the basics.

What Is Medical Malpractice Insurance?

Medical malpractice insurance for healthcare professionals is a type of insurance that covers medical professionals and their practices from claims of malpractice or negligence. It is no secret that practicing medicine involves artful interpretation and application. In most cases, medical professionals have extensive training and are capable of collecting information, making diagnoses, crafting treatments, writing prescriptions, and generally practicing medicine. But there are many places in the medical process where something can go wrong. Patients are able to file a claim of malpractice or negligence against their care providers under a variety of circumstances, and this is where malpractice insurance comes in.

Who Does It Benefit?

Malpractice insurance protects and supports medical professionals, safeguarding their careers. In their day-to-day lives, doctors and nurses have copious amounts of work to complete—practicing medicine is no small ordeal. That is why malpractice insurance can come in handy when a claim arises. If you are under a policy, and the situation meets the terms of that policy, you will receive coverage for indemnity payments, court costs, and damages associated with a lawsuit. By having the financial side of the equation taken care of, you can focus on the other problems at hand.

Why Would I Need It?

You may be a part of a larger practice or hospital that offers malpractice insurance. However, you need to be careful and read the fine print about these policies. Many of them will not cover you in certain circumstances, leaving you with large payments and no support. That is why securing your own malpractice insurance can save you from the headaches of pecuniary burdens. If you have questions about what kind of policy you need, reach out to one of our insurance professionals here at Baxter & Associates.

Also, consider talking with a trusted friend or fellow medical professional—they may be able to offer personal insights into malpractice insurance. When it comes to malpractice insurance, the simple answer is this: you have nothing to gain and everything to lose by not covering your risk. Furthermore, the majority of insurance agencies have insurance agent errors and omissions insurance, which protects them from further fallout. By having this double-backed system of insurance, you will be more than ready to handle whatever comes your way.

Types of Malpractice Insurance

Medical malpractice insurance typically consists of two main categories: occurrence and claims-made policies. Both policy types provide coverage for many kinds of medical professionals but with different perspectives. Occurrence policies will cover you if a patient makes a claim about an alleged incident of malpractice, regardless of the filing date of the claim. The great part about occurrence policies is that you will receive coverage for claims made against you even after your policy has expired. For example, if a patient files a claim in June of 2020 for an incident that took place in March, but your policy expired in May of 2020, you will still receive coverage. Because the incident in question happened while you were paying for the policy, the insurance will still be in effect.

Conversely, claims-made malpractice insurance will cover you only if the incident and the claim happen while under the policy. If we look at the above example, the incident took place while under the policy, but the claim’s filing date was afterward. Under claims-made malpractice insurance, because one of those actions occurred while you weren’t paying for the policy, you will not receive coverage.

Another part of medical malpractice insurance is tail or nose insurance. These are policy add-ons that provide coverage while you are in transition. If you are moving jobs, changing insurers, or taking a leave of absence, you may need to update your policy to ensure continual coverage. On the one hand, tail coverage is added onto the end of your current policy—hence the name “tail.” On the other hand, nose coverage is attached to the beginning of your new policy. In both cases, you are simply covering all your bases so that there are no gaps in your protection.

What Happens When I Need It?

As a medical professional, you focus on healing people and ameliorating their pain. However, there are times when a claim comes against you, and you need help. If a claim comes to you, this means the patient and their lawyer have already met and drafted this document. The first thing you should do is to contact your insurance provider. They will know the details of your policy in more detail than anyone else. Even if they are not able to take any action at that point, alerting them to the situation and maintaining a clear line of communication is important. Your insurer should also be able to recommend your next steps, which will likely include consulting with a lawyer and making contact with all parties involved.

Where Do I Find the Coverage I Need?

If you are looking for medical malpractice insurance, the best thing to do is to contact an insurance agent directly. They will be able to direct you to the type of policy that best fits your medical role and financial capacity. Before you interact with an insurance professional, have a few things prepared. Set a budget, and know roughly what amount you can pay for insurance. Do research ahead of time to understand what the standard payment amount is for your role and location. Because insurance requirements and costs differ by state, seeing where you fit into the grand scheme of things is necessary. Also, ask the insurance agent about their agency’s experience supporting clients when claims arise. Inquiring about their track record will help you get a better picture of what happens and if they are competent to handle your insurance. If you have any questions about medical malpractice insurance, contact us at Baxter & Associates to find a policy that works for you.

Learning the basics of medical malpractice insurance can prepare you for a long and successful career in medicine. Get the right coverage and protect yourself from unnecessary harm so that you can offer consistently high-quality care without extra burdens.