How Technology Is Changing the Landscape of Medical Malpractice

Over the past decade or two, new technologies have revolutionized how the medical industry delivers patient care. However, with the latest technologies come novel risks for medical malpractice cases as healthcare providers attempt to integrate them into their practices. Let’s explore some of the particular risks presented by telehealth, AI, and e-records – and what you can do if an error in their use results in your injury.

Telehealth Medical Services

Telehealth medicine has become a much more prevalent part of the healthcare industry ever since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced patients and doctors to rely on telehealth for routine care to minimize the threat of transmission. However, the widespread adoption of telehealth has led to new challenges involving telemedicine and medical malpractice.

For example, telehealth can take place across state lines, requiring healthcare providers to navigate complex legal and ethical considerations because each state has unique licensure requirements and cross-state practice regulations. Furthermore, providers must determine how to comply with the same standard of care that would apply in an in-person setting when delivering medical services through telemedicine.

Unfortunately, telehealth also presents limitations in diagnosing patients. Technology issues or language barriers can make it difficult for doctors and patients to understand each other. Medical professionals cannot physically examine patients during telehealth visits. As such, doctors must instruct patients to go to a facility to obtain laboratory testing or radiology scans. Healthcare providers may fail to follow up or communicate. As a result, providing accurate diagnoses can become challenging in telehealth, potentially leading to delayed treatment that may result in adverse patient outcomes.

Artificial Intelligence

Many healthcare providers have also begun integrating artificial intelligence technologies into healthcare delivery. Advocates of healthcare AI claim that artificial intelligence can lead to optimized treatment plans and enhanced patient outcomes. This is because AI tools can analyze data to find links or patterns more quickly and reliably than humans and have a perfect recall of medical literature uploaded into the model. However, critics contend that AI tools may lead to misdiagnoses or improper treatment recommendations when healthcare providers rely solely on AI results rather than evaluating the diagnostic data themselves.

Electronic Health Records

Federal and state healthcare regulations have led the medical industry to adopt electronic health records nearly universally. Governments have required healthcare providers to adopt electronic health records with the hope that they will improve accuracy and efficiency in healthcare delivery. EHRs eliminate various physical record risks, such as miscommunication due to poor handwriting or inconsistent terminology, inconsistent recordkeeping, or lost paperwork. However, putting medical records in an electronic or online format creates new risks, including data entry errors, system outages that can delay patient care, and malicious intrusions into computer systems that expose patients’ protected health information.

Contact a Medical Malpractice Attorney Today

If you’ve suffered harm due to negligent patient care, get the legal help you need to pursue accountability and compensation. Our law firm focuses solely on medical malpractice claims. Contact the Law Office of Kelley J. Johnson today for a free, no-obligation consultation with an experienced medical malpractice attorney to discuss your legal options.