Malpractice article pa vs md

[EMEDPA]

http://digital.healthcaregroup.advanstar.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/medec_20111010/#/32

[818f150]

Hey everyone, first post here. Im just a pre-pa college student right now, browsing and getting to know the forums.

 

Interesting article.

Do you feel like this articles statistics are consistent with your experience as a professional?

[ventana]

humm free online access

 

good article

 

wish they allowed PA to get the free subscription and not just docs....

[Magicnubs]

Interesting. I'd like to see a study done with more data though. While ~30 data points is just enough for a relatively accurate bell-curve analysis, the more complicated the driving forces and interaction the more skewed it can be. It would be especially hard to say anything definitively about the actual PA malpractice suits given the low amount of actual data on them. Still, it's heartening.

 

The fact that women get sued so much less is interesting too. I wonder what is causing that. I could imagine anything from perception (women tend to be more often labeled as "well-meaning" and personable in care-taking positions) to multi-tasking ability to specialty ratio to supervising position ratio. I'd like to see a study on that as well.

[hum1doug]

The fact that women get sued so much less is interesting too. I wonder what is causing that. I could imagine anything from perception (women tend to be more often labeled as "well-meaning" and personable in care-taking positions) to multi-tasking ability to specialty ratio to supervising position ratio. I'd like to see a study on that as well.

 

I was getting ready to state that is probably because there are more male PAs, but not true according to the 2010 AAPA census which states: 61% Female 38% male (1% unknown .. lol)

[EMEDPA]

I'm guessing more men in high risk fields like em and surgery and more women in low risk settings like derm and primary care.

[rev ronin]

I'm guessing more men in high risk fields like em and surgery and more women in low risk settings like derm and primary care.

I would be interested to see if statistics bear that out or not. I think subtle gender bias might play a role, both in terms of women PA's averaging greater "emotional intelligence" and hence connectedness with patients, as well as in terms of patients with potential grievances being less willing to see a woman as an opponent to be defeated. I wonder if that would differ based on the age of the litigants--i.e., if this were true in some sense, I would expect it to be more true for older potential litigants than younger.

 

But this is more a sociology question than a medicine question, actually...

[NoClinic4Me]

I've been to lots of doc talks on this and have been doing case review and expert witness stuff for both sides lately. It seems to me and to speakers I've heard that what gets you sued is the "relationship" you have with the patient and not necessarily that you made a mistake. Someone who screws up but is honest and has a good relationship with a patient is much less likely IMO to get sued than someone who may have made a mistake (or may not have) but has a poor relationship with the patient and/or the family. I've heard this time and time again. This is why I ALWAYS get the doc to "say hello" to the patients I am not "jiving" with. It helps me sleep at night and gets someone else in my corner who may be able to improve on that "relationship" thing. I don't take it personal, some people just don't mesh with certain other people.