Riesgo de malapráctica según la especialidad médica

Riesgo de malapráctica según la especialidad médica Malpractice Risk According to Physician Specialty Anupam B. Jena, M.D., Ph.D., Seth Seabury, Ph.D., Darius Lakdawalla, Ph.D., and Amitabh Chandra, Ph.D. NEJM 2011:365;629-36. Abstract Background. Data are lacking on the proportion of physicians who face malpractice claims in a year, the size of those claims, and the cumulative career malpractice risk according to specialty. Methods. We analyzed malpractice data from 1991 through 2005 for all physicians who were covered by a large professional liability insurer with a nationwide client base (40,916 physicians and 233,738 physician-years of coverage). For 25 specialties, we reported the proportion of physicians who had malpractice claims in a year, the proportion of claims leading to an indemnity payment (compensation paid to a plaintiff), and the size of indemnity payments. We estimated the cumulative risk of ever being sued among physicians in high- and low-risk specialties. Results. Each year during the study period, 7.4% of all physicians had a malpractice claim, with 1.6% having a claim leading to a payment (i.e., 78% of all claims did not result in payments to claimants). The proportion of physicians facing a claim each year ranged from 19.1% in neurosurgery, 18.9% in thoracic-cardiovascular surgery, and 15.3% in general surgery to 5.2% in family medicine, 3.1% in pediatrics, and 2.6% in psychiatry. The mean indemnity payment was $274,887, and the median was $111,749. Mean payments ranged from $117,832 for dermatology to $520,923 for pediatrics. It was estimated that by the age of 65 years, 75% of physicians in lowrisk specialties had faced a malpractice claim, as compared with 99% of physicians in high-risk specialties. Conclusions. There is substantial variation in the likelihood of malpractice suits and the size of indemnity payments across specialties. The cumulative risk of facing a malpractice claim is high in all specialties, although most claims do not lead to payments to plaintiffs. (Funded by the RAND Institute for Civil Justice and the National Institute on Aging.) http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMsa1012370   Tenga confianza en Mí, Yo seré su Médico Anestesiólogo  Dr. Roberto Cisneros Corral Anestesiólogo asociado Centro Médico del Noroeste Servicios Profesionales de Anestesiología y Medicina del Dolor Tijuana, B.C., México rcisneros@anestesia-dolor.org  Anestesia en Mexico 2005:17:96-99. Hace unos meses un paciente acudió a nuestra oficina para su valoración preanestésica ya que deseaba operarse de la cara y tenía muchas dudas, además de un estado de salud muy deteriorado. Esta persona no fue referida por los cirujanos, ni por otros enfermos, o algún anuncio comercial de nuestra práctica privada. No, este paciente acudió porque deseaba saber si era un candidato viable a una ritidoplastía, ya que le era importante mejorar su apariencia facial para volver a ser competente en su trabajo. http://www.anestesiaenmexico.org/RAM7/3/17-3-002.pdf   Conocimientos y actitudes de los pacientes hacia la anestesia y anestesiólogos. Una revisión. Hariharan  S. Faculty of Medical Sciences. The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex. Mount Hope. TRINIDAD (West Indies) uwi.hariharan@gmail.com Anest Mex 2009;21:174-178. Resumen El conocimiento por parte de los pacientes referente al anestesiólogo y su quehacer es muy deficiente en la mayoría de los países del mundo. En vez de generar desesperación, estos resultados deben motivar a los anestesiólogos en cada país a mejorar su imagen con el público. Se debe enfatizar que los anestesiólogos deben aumentar su contacto directo con sus pacientes conscientes, utilizar los medios de información como el Internet, y esforzarse para entregar atención de alta calidad perioperatoria que ayudará a mejorar su imagen en los ojos del público. Palabras clave. Conocimiento, actitud del paciente, anestesiólogo.  Abstract Patient knowledge of anesthesiologists and their roles are poor in most countries all over the world. Instead of creating give up hope, these data should actually encourage anesthesiologists in every country to enhance their image in public. It has to be emphasized that anesthesiologists should expose themselves more to their patients, make use of the media and Internet and strive towards providing high quality perioperative care which will help improving their image in the eyes of the public. Key words: Patient Knowledge and attitudes, anaesthesiologists http://www.anestesiaenmexico.org/RAM9/RAM2009-21-3/005.pdf

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