A survey conducted by a group of researchers at Johns Hopkins University has found that nearly half of U.S. doctors consider excessive workloads to be undermining the safety of their patients, and the cause of a significant number of medical errors. The findings were published by JAMA Internal Medicine this month.
According to the authors, there are many consequences of giving doctors too much work, for example, "excessively increasing [a doctor's] workload may lead to suboptimal care and less direct patient care time, which may paradoxically, increase, rather than decrease costs" of treatment. Also, "hospitals frequently reported that excess workload prevented them from fully discussing treatment options, caused delay in patient admissions and/or discharges, and worsened patient satisfaction."
Based on the results of the survey, 40 percent of doctors believe that the number of patients that visited them over a period of one month often exceeded safe levels. Of these doctors, over 20 percent reported that their average workload likely contributed to patient transfers, morbidity or even mortality, with 5 percent reporting that a heavy workload may have caused at least one death over the year.
Are doctors being forced to take on unsafe numbers of patients?
Many people in the health care industry believe there is an increasing problem of doctors and nurses having to take on more patients, especially as recent health reforms may work to give medical insurance coverage to an additional 30 million Americans. However, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association, the number of hours that doctors are working has been declining over recent years, even though the demand has been higher than ever, and there is a serious shortage of physicians in the country.
If a doctor does suffer from excess clinical workload, the situation may result in physician fatigue, which is associated with increased medical errors and has led to the implementation of work-hour restrictions. For nurses, there is a significant association between patient mortality and low staffing. Currently, fifteen states (but not Colorado) have enacted legislation and/or adopted regulations to address nurse staffing.
Contact an Experienced Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Denver, Colorado
If a doctor's mistake or oversight harmed you or a loved one while you were receiving medical treatment, you may be entitled to compensation for your damages. In Colorado, contact the Denver law firm of Paulsen & Armitage, LLC for a free initial consultation to discuss legal action for medical malpractice in your case.
