Electronic Health Reporter

Even though doctors and nurses change and save lives daily, they assume a great deal of liability in the process, causing many medical professionals to worry about potential malpractice suits. One way to avoid a malpractice suit is by using healthcare technology, which simplifies procedures and minimizes human error.

Benefits of Healthcare Technology

Incorporating medical technology into your practice will help you to avoid a malpractice suit for a number of reasons. This technology comes with several benefits, creating a more reliable, advanced, and helpful practice.

The biggest benefit of healthcare technology is that it offers more advanced treatments. This technology is up-to-date, helping it to minimize death and injuries. By offering treatment options that minimize these negative outcomes, you are less likely to find yourself with a medical malpractice suit on your hands. Additionally, health care technology gives you more efficient diagnosis and treatment, making it much easier to determine the cause of a patient’s illness and advise the best treatment.

For example, healthcare technology has provided opportunities for minimally invasive surgery, thanks to the help of robotics. These minimally invasive surgeries mean shorter hospital stays, less pain, and reduced scarring.

The last benefit of healthcare technology is that it makes documentation easier. Since the treatment is digital, most of these technologies include automatic recordkeeping, resulting in automatic, trustworthy data in the case of a malpractice suit. Within the last 20 years, medical technology electronic health records (EHR) have become a staple in many offices. This technology is so important that it was even mentioned by President George W. Bush in his 2004 State of the Union address for its ability to cut costs and save lives.

Easier Procedures and Reduced Human Error

Since modern healthcare technology provides easier procedures with less human error, malpractice suits are likely to decrease. Medical technology helps to make this more likely to happen. If you don’t already have healthcare technology, such as robotics for minimally invasive surgery and EHRs, invest in new technology to minimize your chances of a malpractice suit.

However, medical technology does come with a learning curve, and it’s important to learn about these tools before using them. While the technology minimizes human error, you still must learn how to use the technology for it to help your practice.

Looking to the Future

Experts estimate that malpractice premiums and cases will decrease as doctors become more adept at using medical technologies. Although the initial stage may be a bit worrisome for some practitioners, many experts deem the risk worth it. As long as you practice with the medical technology before using it on a person, the technology should decrease your chances of needing a medical license defense.

Endnote

A malpractice lawsuit can devastate both your personal and professional life. However, thanks to medical technology, you might be able to combat malpractice suits with easier procedures and less human error. Even though there will be a learning curve at the beginning, most experts agree that it’s worth it, as it should lead to less malpractice suits and improve treatment options down the line.