Document the conversations about hospitalization that you have with your patient. Be sure to include all phone calls in which treatment is discussed. This is evidence in your defense, and will help prevent a lawsuit if the patient is considering one. Patients who are unhappy with the results of their treatment might contact the medical review board if they have been injured after being hospitalized.



This board regulates the practice of medicine in the state. Conservative treatment of the patient's condition will be less likely to result in a board finding the physician performed an act that resulted in death or permanent injury. The board will review the complaint and might investigate. If there has been an amputation because of infection, it doesn't matter if the patient's stay in the hospital was brief or not.



Preventing malpractice is not difficult, if the right steps are taken and the right rules are followed. The physician who ends up in court faces grilling by the plaintiff's attorney. Cross-examination might do little to help get a fair verdict from the jury. Jury's are sympathetic to patients who've been mistreated by their doctor. Insurance company sometimes settles lawsuits out of court for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Punitive damages are allowed in some states, and this can raise the total award for malpractice. The jury will consider whether the malpractice was malfeance, misfeance.