Unspoken Hospital Protocols That Can Lead to Legal Issues

Hospital personnel follow numerous processes and procedures to ensure the health and welfare of their patients. However, there are several informal, unspoken hospital protocols that can lead to legal issues.

While administration sets official policies, these casual but widely understood rules often govern how medical staff communicate, prioritize tasks, and interact with you and other patients. This blog contains information from our experienced medical malpractice attorneys, who explain the unspoken rules that may result in your lawsuit.

Inadequate Staffing Levels

Any deviation from a hospital’s accepted standards of care can lead to patient harm. One of the most dangerous unspoken hospital protocols is operating with inadequate staffing levels. Using fewer doctors, nurses, and technicians to reduce the facility’s operating costs violates safe patient-to-staff ratios.

It is not uncommon for overworked medical personnel to miss vital signs and symptoms, make poor decisions, or fail to monitor patients appropriately. By failing to take all necessary precautions, the hospital and staff may be held liable for negligence.

What Constitutes Poor Documentation Practices?

Hospital policies mandate thorough documentation practices. However, unspoken protocols may lead to shortcuts on patient charts, resulting in grave errors in medical records. One particularly problematic practice is copying and pasting into electronic health records, which can propagate outdated information and lead to serious patient harm when a prognosis or treatment plan is based on outdated or inaccurate data.

Poor documentation practices also undermine the integrity of medical records in legal proceedings. Staff may alter a patient’s chart, either dishonestly to cover up a mistake or accidentally. Amendments to records, however well-intentioned, can appear as admissions of wrongdoing in a courtroom and raise significant concerns in malpractice suits.

Ignoring Advanced Directives

Advanced directives are a legal document outlining your wishes for medical treatment if you cannot make those decisions for yourself. While attempting to prioritize lifesaving actions, hospital staff may choose to disregard your valid advanced directive due to personal beliefs or institutional confusion.

Following this unwritten rule can lead to legal issues based on the wrongful prolongation of life. Medical professionals may continue overtreating a patient against their will, needlessly extending their suffering. The legal consequences may include a claim for medical battery or negligence.

Contact Us Today About Legal Issues Arising From Unspoken Hospital Protocols

Unspoken hospital protocols that can lead to legal issues are hard to identify and can result in systemic negligence. Whether you experienced pain and suffering or a diminished quality of life due to a hospital’s negligence, a medical malpractice lawsuit may be the unfortunate result.

Lowenthal & Abrams, PC, is your Philadelphia-based personal injury law firm. We understand how a hospital’s unwritten rules can cause serious medical consequences, and we are here to guide you through the resulting legal process. Reach out to our office today for a consultation with one of our team members.