Medical malpractice: More and more patients are complaining

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MunichX-ray images, forgotten cannulas, wrong medication - more and more patients complain about errors during medical treatment. The Techniker Krankenkasse in Bavaria alone registered almost a third more cases last year than in 2011. The files are jammed in the expert commissions of funds and medical associations.

More mature, more courageous

The reason for the development could be the patient's desire to have a greater say in medical treatment, believes Christian Soltau, who heads the medical rights department at Techniker Krankenkasse: “The discussions about the patient rights law encourage more insured persons to turn to us with their suspicions . "

Nationwide, 13 percent more patients complained to Techniker Krankenkasse about suspected medical errors last year than a year earlier. "From the wrongly extracted tooth to the wrongly amputated leg, everything is included," says Soltau.

Appraisers do not follow up

Patients usually turn to the expert commissions or arbitration boards at health insurance companies or medical associations if the attempt to clarify the matter with the treating doctor or the clinic has failed.

Of the almost 12,700 reports that were prepared by the medical services of the health insurance funds (MDK) in 2011, around two thirds dealt with complaints following a hospital stay. The rest were directed against resident doctors or those who work in outpatient facilities - the 2012 figures are still pending.

A good 30 percent of the complaints are later confirmed by the reviewers. But with the current flood of complaints, the experts often cannot keep up. In the past financial year (Oct. 2011 to Sept. 2012), the expert commission of the North Rhine Medical Association alone received 2090 new applications for recognition of a medical malpractice - an increase of 5.3 percent. As a result, the number of outstanding cases grew to over 1,700, according to the Chamber's annual report.

Surgeons are particularly affected

The most frequent allegations of inpatient treatment errors are directed against trauma surgeons and orthopedic surgeons; the health insurers reported 3539 complaints in 2011 for these two specialties alone. This was followed by the other surgical specialties, dentists and gynecologists. In the outpatient sector, lawsuits against dentists led the statistics before the surgical disciplines and internal medicine, followed by ophthalmologists and general practitioners. Dentists and general practitioners had the highest confirmation rates at over 44 percent.

Anonymous self-criticism

But it is not only patients who are increasingly finding the courage to speak up with suspicion of incorrect medical treatment. Many medical professionals also apparently want to learn from their treatment errors and those of others. Various hospitals and medical disciplines are now operating online platforms under the name CIRS (Critical Incident Reporting System), on which doctors and nursing staff can report their errors and read comments from colleagues. Anonymous, of course. (jr)

Sources: Press release from Techniker Krankenkasse; Treatment error statistics 2011 of the MDS (Medical Service of the National Association of Health Insurance Funds); Activity report 2011/2012 of the expert commission for medical treatment errors at the North Rhine Medical Association

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