Secret Doctor Conferences...

So, I've been told, by a good friend of mine, that, periodically, Doctors get together (behind closed doors), and discuss various mistakes they've all made. Since we have several Doctors on board, I wanted to see if I could verify this "hearsay"....

Is it true? Do Doctors periodically sit around and discuss all the mistakes they've made?

h34r:

 

True, true....

I wonder though, at what point must a mistake be revealed? Like for example, if a "mistake" was made, and let's say, as a resultant, if the "mistake" was not revealed in a short period of time, someone would ultimately end up with a scar somewhere barely noticable, do you think most Doctors would keep their mouth shut to avoid being hit with some sort of malpractice suit? OR, would they attempt to position it as something other than a "mistake", thereby ultimately correcting the resultant, thus, no scar, while at the same time, lowering the risk of any malpractice suit? OR, would they simply confess to the "mistake", ultimately correcting the resultant, thus, no scar, and take the chance?

 

Then who decides/judges the ethics behind various situations? Something amongst the lines of my example above.

I most certainly agree there should be an open, yet protected, forum for these discussions, but I would imagine, there's also some sort of governing ethical concept behind it whereas there must be SOME level of disclosure if there is some sort of impact to the patient right? Or is it much like a church confession?

Being totally crude to illustrate the point more effectively, if a Doctor within one of these sessions raises his or her hand and says, "Hey, I made this mistake, and as a result, if I don't go back and fix it, this will be the result". What then? Does the ethical responsibility fall upon the individual, or otherwise?

If you're wondering "why" I'm bringing this up, simply for no other reason than I think it's interesting discussion that probably isn't discussed too often, and most people probably have no idea this sort of thing goes on. h34r:

 

That's right! I totally forgot about the consent form just prior to some sort of procedure. Of course, that brings up another thought, given this consent, how much liability does it exclude? Obviously, if the consent was "all encompassing" there would be no need for malpractice insurance... except, I would imagine, for very gross circumstances...

 

Ah, usually "after the fact".... Thanks for the clarification... I guess between, personal ethical behavior, the "informed consent", and these M&M-type meetings, there's a decent cross-check "net".

You have to understand, I'm rather paranoid, and don't believe anything anyone tells me, so I have to explore these issues... :lol: Plus, I've come across some "curious" situations when taking various family members to see Doctors. No offense to the medical professionals, but too many people are simply willing to believe what a Doctor tells them simply because they are Doctors. Of course, this applies to almost any field, not just medical, but when it comes to personal health issues, you tend to take them a wee bit more seriously.... (at least I would lol) I will, of course, digest this info. and ponder it further....

 

Now THAT'S one of those "darkly" brilliant concepts...

 

I hear you. There are bad apples in EVERY field, thankfully though, your chances are decent that you won't run into any. Even I have to say the bar is set pretty high, so to speak...

Funny how a stupid admin job when I was really young actually paid off. The questions you mentioned, are basically what I used to do for a summer job: making sure Dr's were board certified and had appropriate hospital privileges for an HMO...

Anyway, I guess where I'm also going with this (here come the groans!), is the tremendous cost of healthcare these days. IMO, it's flat out wrong, and highly unethical to have to "drain" all your assets to simply acquire various amounts of healthcare. I know Dr.'s have to carry certain minimums of malpractice/liability insurance, and the premiums are insane (I'm sure you'll all agree?). Then again, multi-million dollar settlements seem all too common these days, which in turn drives up the costs of care, blah, blah, blah, you all know the hash...

The whole thing about draining assets just pisses me off. :angry: It's one of those things seems to require some sort of planning for, even though I'm technically 32. Obviously, the best thing to do is not get sick, but well, obviously that's a crapshoot...

 

Jack man, you've got it upside down...

I'd worry about the ethics first, as that has the ultimate impact: potentially on your life.

All else is secondary...

 

Now this is interesting...

Why would one do that? If you don't mind?