title: Survival strategies for radiology: some practical tips on how to reduce the risk of being sued and losing.
abstract: The average indemnification for radiologists has tripled in the past 15 years, making risk management in radiology necessary to reduce the threat of being sued and losing. More than 75% of radiology lawsuits allege failure to diagnose or failure to communicate in a timely manner: ultimately, one third of these lawsuits are lost by the radiologist. A failure to communicate results in a timely manner is one of the greatest problems facing radiologists today, and it is a causal factor in 80% of lawsuits. Although rarely the primary factor for these suits, this is the one area in medical malpractice litigation in which radiologists can play a crucial role in reducing risk and liability. This article provides some practical tips on how to reduce the risk for being sued and losing.
authors.affiliation: University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33321-2932, USA. rask1553@bellsouth.net
authors.forename: Michael M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Raskin
mesh_terms: D016365:Liability, Legal; D008318:Malpractice / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000517:prevention & control; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011871:Radiology / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D012308:Risk Management / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States