title: Medical malpractice in hand surgery.
abstract: The rise in medical malpractice claims over the past few decades has altered physicians' practice patterns and has had a considerable financial impact on the medical community as a whole. While numerous studies have analyzed the content and effect of these claims, only a handful of articles have addressed specifically the issue of medical malpractice in hand surgery. This article outlines the available literature on malpractice in hand surgery, offers guidance to hand surgeons on managing medical malpractice claims, and discusses preventative measures they might take to limit such claims from being filed in the future. We conclude that the key measures one can take to protecting oneself legally are knowing and abiding by the standard of care, keeping patients informed and developing good relationships with them, and meticulously documenting. Although some malpractice claims are unavoidable, we believe that one can limit his or her exposure to them by incorporating these measures into their respective practices.
authors.affiliation: Greenville Hospital System/Steadman Hawkins Clinic of the Carolinas, Greenville, SC; and the Office of Risk and Insurance Management and Vanderbilt Orthopaedic Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN.
authors.forename: Nick D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Pappas
authors.affiliation: Greenville Hospital System/Steadman Hawkins Clinic of the Carolinas, Greenville, SC; and the Office of Risk and Insurance Management and Vanderbilt Orthopaedic Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN.
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Moat
authors.affiliation: Greenville Hospital System/Steadman Hawkins Clinic of the Carolinas, Greenville, SC; and the Office of Risk and Insurance Management and Vanderbilt Orthopaedic Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN. Electronic address: Donald.H.Lee@Vanderbilt.edu.
authors.forename: Donald H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D035881:Compensation and Redress / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005104:Expert Testimony / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006225:Hand / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D008318:Malpractice / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D059039:Standard of Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014481:United States
keywords: Hand surgery; medical malpractice