Lessons from Litigation: Avoiding Liability Pitfalls in PALTC
This session will build on previous popular presentations over the past 17 years by two experienced geriatrician/LTC physicians and medical directors with active consulting practices to the legal profession in both defense and plaintiff lawsuits that focus on PA/LTC litigation. This year will also include a focus on the recently expanding area of litigation involving assisted living facilities. The presenters will present an overview of the medical malpractice tort litigation process, then review the most common issues the presenters see in PA/LTC and AL litigation, and present cases from their files that illustrate deficient practices, safety precautions and care planning processes that in their view contributed to the facilities' litigation exposure, and yet are readily modifiable, with resultant reduction in litigation exposure. An experienced PA/LTC defense attorney will provide a legal perspective on each case. Q and A and group discussion to follow.
Learning Objectives:
At the completion of this session, learners will be able to:
- Describe the process of and common areas of litigation encountered in PA/LTC and AL facilities.
- Discuss ways medical directors, attending physicians, administrators and DONs can glean lessons from PA/LTC and AL litigation to implement risk reduction activities in their facilities and practices that can serve to lessen the chance of being involved in litigation.
- Recognize and develop action plans for 'near miss' events, particularly involving resident safety measures, and implement follow-up interventions, to prevent liability with subsequent similar events involving adverse outcomes.
- Describe the importance of updated care plans that reflect appropriate goals of care for nursing facility residents, particularly as their clinical condition changes over time, including accurate communication and prognostication involving residents nearing the end of life, in reducing the chance of litigation involving these residents.
