Did you know that around 370,000 patients suffer serious harm (permanent disability or death) from ED diagnostic errors, with 250,000 deaths directly attributed to these errors? Diagnostic errors are most common in the “Big Three” categories: vascular events, infections, and cancers.
Emergency rooms are designed to provide rapid, life-saving care. But sometimes, mistakes happen, causing serious consequences and worsening a patient’s condition.
Encountering emergency room errors is no joking matter. But it’s important to be composed when facing them so you can act according to what is necessary. There are safety standards and reporting practices that can guide you to seek justice and receive the compensation you deserve.
Here’s what you need to do right when you experience an ER error.
What to Do After Experiencing an ER Error?
The emergency room bypass needs to be handled through personal medical assessment. Rest until you can start taking care of yourself. The situation will reach a critical point when you start experiencing stomach attacks. Medical professionals require your critical symptoms, which have already reached extreme levels of intensity.
Share information from your medical interaction, such as symptoms, any treatment, and all the conversations you have had so far with staff. The treatment plan should be verified through all possible means. Trust your instinct because something feels wrong because it actually is.
You should contact patient advocacy or legal representation if you believe the event caused serious injuries that require assessment. Your first priority needs to focus on protecting your health.
Document Everything: Your Best Defense
The emergency room documentation system serves as the only available protection against medical errors, which require complete written records for their documentation. The process of documenting the event requires first obtaining all medical treatment records, which include lab results, x-ray reports, discharge papers, and the physician’s notes.
The next several days require you to maintain a record, which should include the dates and times of your conversations with the person who you spoke to face-to-face or on the telephone.
You should take photographs of the injury or symptoms that resulted from the mistake whenever possible. You need to keep a detailed record of your symptoms and all your medical appointments.
You need to inform all witnesses about your experience in the ER. The information will provide recovery information, and it will support your future legal proceedings. You must create an accurate record of your statements that explain why you stayed away from the hospital.
Charlotte hospital error lawyer Michael J. Rousseaux also says that injury cases involving medical professionals have a strict statute of limitations. You must file your claim within three years of the date of malpractice or within one year of the date that you discover your injury.
How to Communicate Concerns With Healthcare Providers
The healthcare providers need to discuss your ER error. The situation requires your presence for health reasons. You should approach the staff members with whom you need to talk about your concerns in a respectful manner.
The situation requires simple and polite language, which needs to be explained through proper examples that should be presented in an organized system of indentation across the whole situation.
People should use polite language while keeping their message direct because this approach will create a productive discussion. You should request to speak with the supervisor or patient advocate if the current staff members cannot assist you because these two professionals will provide you with useful assistance.
Understanding Your Legal Rights After an ER Error
Emergency room error impacts become challenging to handle when victims of these incidents face difficulties in accessing legal assistance. You must establish your fundamental beliefs about safe medical treatment because it is your right to receive professional medical care. Your belief that a medical mistake took place will give you the most probable basis for a malpractice suit.
You should maintain an accurate account of your received treatment. This should include details about the medical personnel who attended to you at specific dates and times. Collect your medical records and other relevant documents that will help prove your case.
You need to explain the specific filing deadline that your state has established for filing your case because this deadline differs throughout the country.
The claim process allows you to determine all your options while working with an attorney, after which you will receive legal compensation for all your suffered injuries and damages.
Getting a Second Opinion on Your Care
The first step that needs to be taken after an emergency room mistake is to obtain a second opinion, which will help patients find their required medical treatment. The key is to trust yourself if something doesn’t appear quite fine.
Your primary care physician will understand your concerns better when you share your medical issues with him. You should provide your complete medical history and all treatment details to the consultant. This information will help them understand your health condition better.
You should ask about the treatment methods and diagnostic procedures to have a clear understanding of your situation. Your health remains the most important thing to consider because a second opinion will bring you peace and help you find your true diagnosis while showing you an entirely different approach to better treatment results.
Tips for Preventing Future Medical Errors
Health care workers must establish good doctor-patient communication. If you have concerns about your diagnosis and treatment plans, ask them. They have the duty to disclose everything that you need to know about your condition as a patient.
Bring them your entire medication list, including allergy information and other documentation needed. You should start asking again from the moment you doubt your current understanding. Your companion will help you remember important details while you both work together to protect your interests. Health apps use technology to help users monitor their medical records.
Trust your instincts! You should express your concerns when something does not feel right. The implementation of these basic steps will result in a substantial decrease of errors and a corresponding increase of patient protection in medical facilities.
Conclusion
The emergency room mistake requires you to monitor your health for new medical issues while understanding your legal protections. The complete relevant information needs to be recorded because all doctors must resolve the existing differences between their medical knowledge.
The information you need to continue your medical treatment exists; therefore, you need to proceed to acquire the required documents. Your current problem gets resolved through this solution, which also stops any future mistakes from occurring with you and other patients.
