PATIENT COMPLAINT BASKET TEST The administrator of a clinic has received the fol
ID: 128556 • Letter: P
Question
PATIENT COMPLAINT BASKET TEST
The administrator of a clinic has received the following series of patient complaints:
The parents of a patient alleged that the physician rudely rushed off their daughter’s symptoms; shortly thereafter, the daughter was diagnosed elsewhere with a malignant brain tumor
A patient complained that the physician refused to provide a letter to her employer stating she needed more time off from work, and she threatened to sue if the letter was not forthcoming
A patient complained that his bill was too high, that the physician had misinformed him about one of his test results, and that this caused a delay in treatment
A patient was angered when her biopsy was put off because of the physician’s vacation plans, delaying a diagnosis of metastasized breast cancer by four weeks
A patient complained that confidentiality was breached by an employee who discussed his case outside the clinic in a social setting: the patient demanded that the employee be fired
A patient requested a refund because the clinic lost X-ray films depicting progress of his pituitary tumor
A patient accused a physician of improper sexual conduct
A patient relayed a series of minor complaints against the physician and the clinic, requesting that the remaining bill of $38.00 be written off
Case Discussion Questions
Classify the complaints by severity on a scale from one to three, where one is the most severe.
Select one of the severe complaints and recommend a solution.
Explanation / Answer
Healthcare delivery system is changing drastically with advancement in technology and demands to receive quality services is the key to success for patients as well as organisation. Each healthcare system uses many processes and protocols,thus to have effective working environment for patients and to enable great patient experience with the services. Separate team works on the implementation and analysis of quality parameters in healthcare settings. There are feedback system used in hospitals to understand the patient experience or any suggestions or recommendations for improvement. The feedbacks from the clients are analysed,to improve the quality of the services.
If the Organisation ignores the value of feedback,then the patient's flow to the settings could be reduced because of poor quality in services and it can also spoil the reputation of the company. Patient complaints are the key factors for improvement. Patient complaints also gives a great insight about the safety related problems in healthcare organizations.
The complaints have to be classified as per the severity or as per the type of the problems or persons involved or the effect of the problem. The ratings can be given on the basis of clear negligence or medical malpractice.
Complaint 1: the physician rushed off the symptoms and behaved rudely which resulted in delayed diagnosis of malignant brain tumor which is a life threatening condition. So, the rating can be 1 because in such illness, any delay can cause risk to life.
Complaint 2: This can put the patient to undergo extreme stress because of lack of rest and less time for recovery, this can be rated with 2. It can give rise to further deterioration of health and the physician is neglecting the patient's request.
Complaint 3: There is medical negligence because of error in describing test result which lead to delayed treatment. It can be rated with 1 because of the severity in delaying the treatment.
Complaint 4: Medical negligence, because the physician could have asked other physician to take care of her case or could have done the biopsy before the vacation. The illness can be life threatening so the rating could be 1 for this complaint.
Complaint 5: Breaching confidentiality is the commonest form of complaint seemn in healthcare settings. This can be given a rating of 2 because it could have happened by mistakenly at many times. But,this cannot be excused.
Complaint 6: This shows that the diagnosis can become difficult to comprehend on the comparitive study. And this can also indicate clear negligence. The rating can be given as 1 because of the missing report for treatment.
Complaint 7: Sexual misconduct is a severe form of event in medical practice. If the misconduct is proven then it can be treated as a punishable offence. The rating can be given as 1 because of its severity and involving the primary care team member, the physician.
Complaint 8: This is a complaint where the patient is making minor complaints and wish to wave off the bill. And many a times, this type of complaints are exaggerated to reduce the bill amount. The rating can be given as 3.
Sexual Misconduct:
- Always female patients should be attended by a female staff while the doctor examines the patient
- There should be a process to escalate such incident without disclosing the patient details to anyone. This can create trust and confidence in patients to escalate immediately.
- Maintaining privacy and expose the patient's area where the treatment is to be performed.
- If the patient wishes for a female physician to attend her, that shall be privileged
- Monitoring of the working culture within the organisation to look for deviations
-Regular meetings and group discussion to bring in awareness about the policy on anti sexual harassment and also the methods to prevent such incidents.
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