Friday, May 23
9 a.m. - 11 p.m.
Risk Management Consult: When Doctors Don't Agree - Kathleen Roman
This program was developed in response to the numerous instances of litigation and complaint-related calls to the Medical Protective CRM Department in which the criticism of one doctor contributes to litigation, complaints to dental boards, or peer review. Lacking sound clinical justification, some of these critical evaluations seem motivated by competitive rather than professional concerns. In other instances, the comments seemed to be triggered by lack of accurate information about the patient's previous treatment, including the constraints and limitations under which the previous care was provided.
The goal of this program is to prevent unnecessary litigation arising out of undue criticism of the dental work provided by another dentist. The focus of the program will be to: a) help dentists define the processes they use for accepting, referring, and discharging patients from their practices; b) establish criteria for assessing patients' current clinical status without undue criticism of the care provided by another doctor; and c) utilize staff as a means of more effectively managing communications with other dental providers.
Dentists who participate in this program should be able to: formalize ways in which the doctor-patient relationship is initiated/ended; systematize communication processes with other dental providers, including those who refer/accept referrals and those who provided previous care to current patients; develop patient-focused strategies to deal professionally with differences of opinion about the clinical status of patients' oral health; and teach members of the dental team to communicate without criticizing other dentists.
Kathleen Roman has been a health care writer and educator for nearly thirty years. Since 1988, she has been employed by The Medical Protective Company where she has served as director of marketing and promotions, director of risk management, and currently leads the company's risk management education efforts. Kathleen identifies risk factors that contribute to malpractice litigation and designs educational materials to help health care professionals address these risks. She has authored several hundred articles related to health care quality and risk management, including benchmarking material for the American Society of Healthcare Risk Management handbook. She serves as a consultant and popular risk management lecturer for numerous medical and dental associations. She is a member of the Alliance for Continuing Medical Education, the American Medical Writers' Association, and the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management, and of the ad hoc insurance advisory council of the American Dental Association.
