Treatspace Blog Faulty Referral Management Raises the Risk of Malpractice Claims and Tragic Effects

What you don't know can hurt you. When practices fail to manage a standard and consistent patient referral process across all locations, patients get sicker. And when PCPs and specialists aren't on the same page about a patient referral, urgent health conditions worsen while important diagnoses get missed or delayed.But a defective referral communication process isn't just a big problem for patient care - it's also a big problem for medical practices' morale and bottom lines. Practices often get sued for medical negligence when a patient referral falls through the cracks.Referrals play a role in an immense number of medical malpractice claims. Patient handoffs in medical settings contribute to 20% of diagnostic errors that lead to malpractice suits1.