Worrying about possible lawsuits can take away the enjoyment of practicing optometry. Unfortunately, anyone can sue anyone for anything. Just because you have been sued or might be sued in the future does not make you a bad optometrist.
Instead of letting anxiety become a chronic fear, wise optometrists have procedures in place to prevent litigation. Here are three things you should be doing now to avoid a malpractice lawsuit.
- Dilate routinely – When pupils have not been dialated, it’s easy to miss diagnosing common diseases like glaucoma, retinal detachments, and tumors. If you don’t make dilating patients a routine part of your examinations, you are setting yourself up for a potential lawsuit. The Optos is a great instrument for medical eye care, but it should not be a replacement for dilation. The addition of an Optomap image over time works in conjunction with dilating the pupils to ensure a thorough eye exam.
- Explain a decrease in visual acuities – With busy schedules and children who do not cooperate, it can be very easy for practicing optometrists to default to an amblyopic diagnosis in the absence of amblyogenic causes. The largest lawsuits against optometry have come from an incorrect amblyopia diagnosis. When you do have decreased acuities it is important to document in the record why they are most likely decreased.
- Refer/Recall appropriately – When you refer a patient to another physician it is extremely important that you follow through in scheduling the appointment for them. Some of you may work with cataract surgeons who perform surgery, evaluate the patient the next day, and then tell the patient they need to schedule an appointment back with the OD in the next 2-4 weeks. The surgical center then releases the patient without scheduling the next appointment. For those of you wanting to decrease the risks of a malpractice case, it is wise for you to have your staff schedule the next appointment.
