I’ve had occasion to give talks to health care providers about the patient/plaintiff’s perspective. In each, I’ve had health care providers ask for tips on how not to get sued. The stock answer I’ve developed is: “Either actually listen to your patients, or at least do a good acting job so they think you’re listening.”

This answer comes from my experience that patients often refuse to sue the doctor that they believe listened to them. Cases we’ve had sometimes involve fault on the part of both a family practice doctor and a consulting physician, such as a radiologist. In such cases, sometimes the family practice doctor is extremely negligent, yet the patient/victim refuses to bring a claim against her, because they like and trust her, and regardless of the egregious nature of the negligence.

This is not some new, novel concept, although some physicians are better at it than others. A recent article came out from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), authored by Thomas B. Fleeter, MD and discussing this very topic. The title is unfortunate – “Talking Your Way Out of a Lawsuit” – as it implies that orthopedic surgeons should follow the article’s guidelines to avoid being sued, as opposed to actually expressing empathy and connecting with their patients.

But the concept is the same: doctors who take the time with their patient and allow them to feel heard are much less likely to be sued than doctors who don’t spend enough time listening (or acting like their listening).

You can read the full article yourself here:

[Talking Your Way Out of a Lawsuit: Good communication is a fundamental step in avoiding medical liability lawsuits][1]

It cites both non-medical literature (Malcolm Gladwell’s “Blink”) as well as medical literature. With respect to the latter, the author cited a Toronto study performed by Wendy Levinson, MD, who recorded hundreds of conversations between doctors and patients. There were two groups of doctors that emerged: those who had never been sued and those who had been sued twice or more. The difference, Dr. Levinson found, was that those who had never been sued spent an average of 3 minutes longer with each patient than the other doctors. That was it. The content of what was said was the same, but the first group spent more time with the patient.

Another text cited is “Etiquette-Based Medicine,” by Michael Kahn, MD. Dr. Kahn identifies a checklist for each patient visit that includes such useful nuggets as “shake hands, bump fists, or otherwise welcome the patient” and “sit down and try to smile.”

Leaving aside the humorous mental image of an orthopedic surgeon bumping fists with a patient and “trying” to smile to avoid litigation, the concepts are good for doctors to learn. I would hope that they would do them for reasons other than just avoiding being sued, but oh well.

[1]: http://www.aaos.org/news/aaosnow/feb15/managing9.asp “Talking Your Way Out of a Lawsuit: Good communication is a fundamental step in avoiding medical liability lawsuits”