In an article published in Hospital News/Southern New Jersey in 1992 and written by then-Princeton Insurance Risk Consultant Phyllis DeCola, four allegations were discussed as the most common to claims in those days. These allegations were: delayed or missed diagnoses inadequate follow-up medical or surgical errors related to technical skill (especially with the use of equipment) communication breakdowns among providers and between physicians and patients (Click here to read the full article.)   Sound familiar? That may be because these are the very same issues that plague the healthcare industry today; they are still contributing factors in more medical malpractice claims than any other allegations.   Through the years, and in response to these claim trends, Princeton has produced many risk management tools, documents and educational programs for physicians in the office practice setting. Our risk consultants have continued to reach out to physician practices – we are here to answer questions posed by physicians and their staff members, in-person and through our risk resource hot line. We have seen procedures, policies, and protocols instituted in many physician offices in an effort to reduce risk and improve patient safety.  But, are they working? Are they enough? Or has any initial effort made by physician practices to implement new risk management approaches simply faded away?   A recent in-depth analysis of our current claim trends, which show similar trends of those from 18 years ago, may suggest that it’s a combination of all the above.   Or maybe the issue remains that without a driving force – a claim being filed or an injured patient as a result of a failed system or process – the motivation to change simply isn’t there, and therefore any attempts to change are ultimately ineffective? A media tycoon, Sumner Redstone, once said, “Success is not built on success. It’s built on failure. It’s built on frustration. Sometimes it’s built on catastrophe.”   We are a decade into a major patient safety movement.  Most of the movement’s efforts to date have focused on the inpatient arena, yet the majority of care today is delivered in the outpatient or office practice setting.  Armed with data that quantifies patient allegations and risk management issues which make up claims, Princeton can help you focus your risk management efforts on matters of greatest risk, and in areas where effort expended can achieve the greatest positive return.  Contact our Healthcare Risk Management team at 1-866-Rx-4RISK to get started today on instituting risk management and patient safety initiatives in your office practice.