A physician's failure to diagnose in a timely manner tops the chart as the most common allegation in medical professional liability lawsuits. This is why it is very important for every physician to establish a consistent process for tracking results.
CAP's Risk Management & Patient Safety Department offers the following suggestions to help protect your patient and you:
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- Devise a system which notifies every patient of every result. The policy of "no news is good news" should not be used.
- Establish a simple, standardized system for notifying patients of both normal and abnormal test results.
- For normal or non-urgent abnormal results, your physician should initial, date, and provide instruction for the patient follow-up on the actual laboratory result sheet.
- All urgent abnormal results should be immediately directed to, and followed-up by, the physician. These reports should also be dated and initialed by the physician or an advanced-practice professional.
- Empower patients to serve as a double check system. Patients should be educated about what tests are being ordered, the purpose of the test, and when and how the results will be relayed. Give them a specific time frame to expect the results and, direct them to call the office if they have not received their results.
Authored by
Ann Whitehead, RN, JD
Senior Risk Management & Patient Safety Specialist
If you have questions about this article, please contact us. This information should not be considered legal advice applicable to a specific situation. Legal guidance for individual matters should be obtained from a retained attorney.