Doctors First, Inc

THE UGLY TRUTH: THERE IS NO WAY TO PREVENT SOMEONE FROM FILING A LAWSUIT FOR MALPRACTICE. However, there are ways to lessen the risk. You are statistically more likely to be a target of a lawsuit if you don’t have a risk management program in place at your practice or healthcare facility. Even when there has been no error made, physicians are still at risk. As a medical practitioner, you may still find yourself named in a malpractice lawsuit despite your best efforts to prot...ect your patients and yourself. Risk management programs help you and your staff to proactively avoid mistakes and to ensure high quality of patient care. These tips can be implemented to reduce your risk: 1. AUDIT Review the standards and practices employed by yourself and your staff. Analyze all potential risks such as patient care, equipment certification and maintenance, procedures, checks and verifications, records, etc. Make recommendations to mitigate those risks and assist you in establishing procedures to ensure ongoing implementation of corrective measures 2. TRAINING Your staff must be thoroughly familiar with your risk management measures, and must understand their duty to comply with them. It is your responsibility, as a responsible physician, to enforce compliance. 3. STRESS TEST Analyze past of small claims that may have been settled out of court. Create hypothetical issues and examine ways of handling them. Find vulnerabilities within the practice and strengthen them. 4. ACCREDITATION Seek out accreditation from an independent organization that performs periodic on-site surveys of procedures and compliance. This can help to maintain awareness of and compliance with established risk management measures. These four measures can help to prevent mishaps and strengthen your position in the event of a formal lawsuit, while also helping to maintain high standards of patient care.

U.S. Doctor Shortage Could Hit 139,000 By 2033 The nation’s shortage of doctors will rise to between 54,000 and 139,000 by 2033 as the U.S. population grows and ages, making it even more difficult to fight public health threats like today’s spread of the coronavirus strain Covid-19. The latest study of doctor supply by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), a lobby for medical schools and teaching hospitals, shows coming shortfalls in both primary and specialty... care. The gap between the country’s increasing health care demands and the supply of doctors to adequately respond has become more evident as we continue to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, AAMC president and chief executive Dr. David Skorton said in a statement accompanying the analysis by research firm IHS Markit. The challenge of having enough doctors to serve our communities will get even worse as the nation’s population continues to grow and age. Primary care doctors, in particular, are in short supply. The 81-page report estimates that between 21,400 and 55,200 primary care doctors will be needed even as new primary care models proliferate and more Americans receive outpatient care from nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other health professionals. Family physicians, pediatricians and internists will be more in demand as trends in insurance payment emphasize population health and value-based care making sure patients get more care upfront in a primary care professional’s office or other outpatient setting like an urgent care facility. The analysis was conducted in 2019 and before the pandemic hit the U.S. healthcare system. But the AAMC said the pandemic exposed a need for more primary care professionals on the front lines when cities and states sent out emergency calls for retired physicians to return to emergency rooms, outpatient clinics and even help many virtual offices for telehealth services. Many medical schools also allowed students to graduate early so they could join doctors and nurses to treat Covid-19 patients and fill gaps in care left by specialists who treated outside of their medical disciplines. As our health care system continues to treat patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for a strong and sufficient health care workforce is more apparent than ever, Skorton said. Specialty physician shortages, especially those that are hospital-based, including critical care, emergency medicine, and pulmonary specialists, are particularly urgent.

Thank you to all who have served and are currently serving.

Personal protective equipment for preventing highly infectious diseases due to exposure to contaminated body fluids in healthcare staff. http://ow.ly/FNAi50A1EoB

We hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day with friends and family while remembering the men and women who died while making the untimate sacrifice for their country.

Out delivering more surgical masks to healthcare providers in need. We are honored to be able to help.

COVID-19 Risk Q: Who is at risk for infection with the virus that causes COVID-19? A: Currently, those at greatest risk of infection are persons who have had prolonged, unprotected close contact with a patient with symptomatic, confirmed COVID-19 and those who live in or have recently been to areas with sustained transmission. For more information, see Risk Assessment....Continue reading

What Healthcare Personnel Should Know about Caring for Patients with Confirmed or Possible COVID-19 Infection Healthcare personnel (HCP) are on the front lines of caring for patients with confirmed or possible infection with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and therefore have an increased risk of exposure to this virus. HCPs can minimize their risk of exposure when caring for confirmed or possible COVID-19 patients by following Interim Infection Prevention and Control Reco...Continue reading