More than ever, electronic devices are present in medical settings. From electronic health records to telemedicine equipment to tablets and phones, it’s increasingly rare to deal with a health professional without some sort of device present.
Mostly, the use of electronic devices in doctors’ offices and hospitals is good for patients. For example, if you fall unconscious and are taken to the emergency room, your care providers may be able to access your electronic health record and learn about your medications and your health history. In a more common scenario, you may be able to have a telemedicine appointment with your doctor that spares you having to make a trip to their office when you feel unwell (and spares other patients if you’re contagious).
Because electronic devices have so many advantages and allow more efficient communication and care, they have become a permanent fixture in medical settings. But they also carry a risk. Anyone who has been ignored by a child glued to an iPad, or witnessed a distracted driver speeding down the road with their eyes on their phone instead of the road, can guess what it is.
Medical professionals aren’t the only people who are capable of being distracted by phones, tablets, or other devices, of course. But the stakes of their distraction are higher than for most people. Many patients who sit in exam rooms pouring out their medical concerns feel unheard when the doctor or nurse has their eyes trained on a screen. That can lead to a poor patient experience, even if it doesn’t affect the outcome of the patient’s care. But in some cases, a doctor’s distraction can lead to a serious or deadly mistake, and may constitute medical malpractice.
What does distracted doctoring look like? It can take many forms:
These are only a few of many examples, and believe it or not, they are some of the less egregious ones. For example, a doctor in California attended traffic court on Zoom while performing surgery. And, of course, doctors are not the only providers who can be distracted by screens; nurses and medical technicians are just as susceptible.
But surely the majority of medical providers are fully engaged in their work, right? Perhaps not as many as you think. A 2010 study published in the Journal of Risk Management and Healthcare Policy reported that 55.6% of perfusionists surveyed admitted using a cell phone during cardiopulmonary bypass, and 49.2% admitted sending text messages during bypass. (A perfusionist is a medical technician or nurse who operates the equipment that supports patients’ respiratory and circulatory systems during surgery).
As horrifying as those statistics are, remember that this study was conducted almost fifteen years ago. Cell phone use is even more prevalent now, so these numbers would be likely to be even higher if this study were conducted today.
All of us multitask sometimes. And most of us learn at some point that both tasks suffer when we are not fully attentive to one or another. In the world of medicine, that can lead to grave medical mistakes such as:
As mentioned before, the stakes are higher for medical mistakes caused by distracted doctoring, and sometimes the outcome of these errors cannot be reversed or compensated for.
If a medical error due to distracted doctoring causes a death or permanent injury, no amount of money can make up for the patient’s or family’s loss. Unfortunately, as we have noted before in this blog, a financial award is one of the only things the justice system can do to try to make an injury victim whole.
But a financial settlement or judgment has another effect: it sends a message to the medical community that distracted doctoring is unacceptable—and costly. In the end, that may be the best way to discourage the practice, since screens are not leaving medical settings anytime soon.
To learn more about distracted doctoring and what to do if you have been injured by a distracted medical provider, contact the Fraser Law Firm to schedule a consultation.
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