People tend to think of healthcare professionals as independent and powerful. After all, they hold positions of trust and can make decisions that have profound implications for their patients.
However, the days of physician autonomy are long gone. Most modern medical professionals are employees. They work for large corporate medical practices or hospitals. They are subject to intense employer scrutiny and numerous demands that impact the standard of care that they provide for their patients. In some cases, the policies and demands of employers may directly contribute to unfavorable outcomes for patients.
Doctors see too many patients
Medical professionals need to understand patient circumstances to diagnose and treat patients successfully. Historically, many doctors treated all of the people in a family and may have worked with the same patient for years, if not decades. However, modern physicians have so many patients that even if they work with the same person for years, they may not be familiar with their medical history immediately.
Instead, they have to review the patient’s chart before the appointment to remind themselves about their background and allergies. When doctors see hundreds of patients throughout the year, they may overlook information that could have a profound impact on the diagnostic conclusion that they read for the treatment that they recommend.
They may also see multiple patients per hour every day, which can limit the amount of time that they can dedicate to communicating with the patient and reviewing their chart. The end result is that physicians may fail to diagnose patients because they overlook key information or because they don’t have time to fully explore concerns during appointments.
The failure to diagnose a patient might lead to a serious medical condition progressing. The patient may then face more expensive treatment and more debilitating symptoms because the doctor did not diagnose them promptly.
The doctor might also rush to the wrong conclusion, resulting in the patient undergoing the wrong type of care given their history and true diagnosis. Diagnostic errors are a serious but preventable form of medical malpractice.
Patients who experience significant diagnostic errors and families grieving the loss of someone after a misdiagnosis may want to pursue a medical malpractice lawsuit. Taking legal action can create consequences for individual health care providers and the corporate medical businesses that put profit margins ahead of patient care standards.