For as long as professionals have provided medical support for other people, some people have failed in their duty to their patients. Medical malpractice lawsuits allow people harmed by poor medical practices to hold physicians or medical facilities accountable. Medical malpractice involves negligence or care that does not align with current professional standards. Typically, verifiable harm for the patient is a necessary element of a medical malpractice lawsuit.
In recent years, there have been drastic changes in how hospitals and care providers support patients. Specifically, there has been an increase in reliance on increasingly complex medical technology. How do these major changes in medical technology affect the chances of medical malpractice occurring in a particular setting?
Reliance on technology creates risk
There are many ways in which medical technology can protect patients. Digital charts make it possible to verify whether there is risk for a medication interaction in a matter of seconds. Robotic surgeries allow for greater precision and control during delicate and demanding procedures, including neurosurgery.
Artificial intelligence (AI) can conduct secondary reviews of genetic tests or complex imaging tests. Those redundant reviews could potentially catch warning signs of cancer or other significant maladies. Technology can reduce human error in many cases.
However, as health care professionals become more reliant on technology, the technology itself becomes a source of risk. If there are issues with a practice’s computer system, physicians may not be able to review records and assess their proposed prescription or treatment regimen effectively. If a surgeon makes a mistake while operating a robotic surgical device, the patient could suffer serious injuries.
Some health care professionals may lose skills specifically because they become too dependent on technology. Those whose job responsibilities include carefully-assessing test results to look for indications of cancer might cut corners because they become too reliant on AI software. They might fail to diagnose a patient before their cancer reaches a critical stage of development.
Provided that doctors have adequate training on how to properly use new technology and that they maintain their skills in case that technology is not available, advances in medical technology theoretically bode well for patient outcomes. In practice, technology may ultimately be the underlying cause of a multitude of medical malpractice lawsuits.
If patients believe that the misuse of technology or other errors by a physician have caused a poor medical outcome, they may have grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit. Showing that a competent professional could have achieved a better outcome could allow a patient to hold a doctor or their employer accountable for poor care and harm resulting from it.