Re: Brain damaged baby case (long)
From: art fougner, md (evsono@pipeline.com)
Wed Mar 29 11:09:31 2006
Lynn
sometimes hospital politics imitates those of the UN. Maybe you can put
them on Dean Wormer's "Double Secret Probation?"
Art
At Wed, 29 Mar 2006, Lynn Montgomery, MD wrote:
>
>Now I am not advocating suing physicians, but let me play the devil's
>advocate here based on my personal experience:
>
>-Current hospital setting without ANY quality assurance in the OB Section
>for eight years.
>
> -Two JCAHO inspections during that time and passed
>with flying colors.
>
>-Several previous hospitals with QA programs, but when deficiencies
>identified, no action is taken.
>
>-At least two instances where a significant problem was identified with
>patient management where the physician refused to respond to any inquiry on
>advice from his counsel - despite the supposed confidentiality of peer
>review. No action taken regarding the cases.
>
>-Two and now possibly three physicians with a literal stack of charts with
>untoward outcomes. QA recommendation that privileges be suspended pending
>additional training, etc, only to be laughed at by hospital counsel who
>state that we will all be sued and the suspension will not likely stand.
>
>So, given these issues, how are we supposed to accomplish "Physician police
>thy self". And if we cannot police ourselves, which we have apparently shown
>we can't; who is going to?
>
>It is easy to be critical of lawyers suing us, but I feel that we bear a
>good share of the responsibility by engendering a "good ole boys club" and
>rubber stamping our peer's practice patterns, whether appropriate or not -
>fearing that if we are critical of a peer's practice patterns, we may be
>next.
>
>I learned quality assurance from Bob Carpenter and Ray Kaufman and have been
>struggling my entire career to duplicate their approach, only to be met with
>frustration at every turn.
>
>Lynn
--
art fougner, md
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