Developing Trends and Current Topics in

Anesthesiology Claims

by

Jim C. Goodwin, JD(With gratitude and acknowledgement to Brian J. Thomas, JD, Senior Claims Attorney & Director

of Risk Management, Preferred Physicians Medical Risk Retention Group. www.ppmrrg.com)

This Presentation Will Cover: Electronic Medical Records (EMR)

Distractions in the O.R.

Ambulatory Surgery and Pain Centers

Top Ten Anesthesia Claims & Lawsuits

Electronic Medical Records (EMR) Overview of how EMR systems typically work

Recap of “the good old days” of documentary discovery

How electronic data is typically converted into paper form

Why litigation costs are increasing

Illustrative litigation

Distractions in the O.R. Administering anesthesia is surprisingly boring—except

when it isn’t We have lots of shiny new toys now

Surgeons love their iPods Operating Rooms now commonly have internet

access Everyone is texting Robots now operate There are big screen TVs showing the surgery

And everything is tracked Illustrative litigation

(Resist the urge to snap that “O.R. selfie”)

Ambulatory Surgery and Pain Centers Why more and more procedures are performed here Competing interests for patient populations—and

supplies How ambulatory centers differ from hospitals, and how

they are similar Illustrative litigation

Top Ten Anesthesia Malpractice Claims (non-litigation)

Dental57.4%

Nerve Damage10.3%Tissue In-

jury9.3%Death

8.5%Pain3.6%

Burn2.4%

Infection2.3%

Awareness2.1%

Pneumoth-orax2.1%

Brain Damage

2.0%

PPM’s History6/1987 to 12/2012

Top Ten Anesthesia Malpractice Lawsuits

Dental4.2%

Nerve Damage24.9%

Tissue In-jury8.6%

Death35.5%

Pain2.1%

Burn3.8%

Infection3.6%

Vision Loss3.3%

Surgical Complication

2.2%Brain

Damage11.5%

PPM’s History6/1987 to 12/2012