Physician burnout puts patient safety at risk and leads to potentially devastating errors. If you have been injured because of medical negligence that you believe was caused due to physician burnout, our Baltimore medical injury attorneys can help you learn more about your rights and options. With extensive experience in Maryland malpractice law, we understand how to investigate complex medical injury claims and protect your rights based on the facts.
Sadly, burnout is common for doctors. Burnout is a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion characterized by excessive and prolonged stress. It happens when a doctor is overwhelmed and unable to meet demands. which can lead to feelings of cynicism, worry and doubt. Physicians across the United States deal with symptoms of burnout at almost twice the rate of other workers, often pointing to reasons such as long hours, concerns about being sued, and dealing with workplace bureaucracy like filling out time-consuming electronic medical records.
While we know that doctor burnout is bad for both the physician and his or her patients, it is also extremely expensive. A recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that doctor burnout costs the US healthcare system approximately $4.6 billion a year. To draw this conclusion, researchers analyzed information such as recent reports and research – including direct or inferred findings on physicians cutting back on hours or quitting as a result of burnout. A mathematical model was then used to estimate the cost of burnout, focusing on the price tag of replacing doctors and lost wages from vacant positions.
Doctor burnout is a serious problem in the United States that can have serious, even deadly consequences for a patient. When a doctor experiences burnout, a wide range of adverse events may occur ranging from minor mistakes to “never events,” which are patient safety incidents that are so extreme that they should never have happened. Some examples of “never events” include, but are not limited to: surgeons operating on the wrong person; surgeons operating on the wrong body part; surgeons performing the wrong procedure altogether; and/or leaving a foreign object in the patient’s body.
All medical professionals are required to provide competent care. If you have been harmed by a medical mistake or by a never event, you have grounds to file a claim for compensation through a medical malpractice lawsuit. In Maryland, medical malpractice takes place when a medical professional’s conduct deviates from the generally accepted standard of care, leading to your injuries. The standard of care refers to the accepted set of practices that other medical professionals in the same field would use when treating a similar patient under similar circumstances. In cases where a “never event” has occurred, such as leaving a foreign object in the body after surgery, it is relatively straightforward to establish that malpractice has taken place.
If you or someone close to you has been injured due to a medical error or been the victim of a “never event” – we can help. At Arfaa Law Group, our highly skilled Baltimore medical malpractice attorneys are committed to helping Maryland clients recover the compensation they deserve to deal with the harm that they have suffered. We understand how stressful dealing with a medical injury can be, which is why we will handle your case with the utmost compassion. For a free consultation, call us today at 410-889-1850 or contact us online.