Incidence of and Risk Factors for Medical Malpractice Lawsuits among Mohs Surgeons

Perlis, Clifford S.; Campbell, Ross M.; Perlis, Roy H.; Malik, Mohsin; Dufresne, Raymond G.

doi:10.1111/1524-4725.2006.32009

Cited by 35 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Limited data have been published on wrongsite surgery in dermatology, but what is available suggests that dermatologists are at risk for this medical error. Perlis, Campbell, Perlis, Malik, and Dufresne (2006) reviewed malpractice cases involving Mohs surgeons and reported that 14% were filed because of wrong-site surgery. A review of adverse events in the Veteran's Administration showed that two of three events reported by dermatology were because of wrong-site surgery (Neily et al, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Availability of Biopsy Site Documentation for Mohs Surgery

Ochoa

Lawrence

2015

Journal of the Dermatology Nurses' Association

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Patients presenting for Mohs surgery may have difficulty identifying their surgical site. Records from referring physicians do not always allow the surgeon to independently identify the site, which increases risk of a wrong-site surgery. We sought to quantify the number of referral cases for Mohs surgery with adequately detailed documentation for site identification by retrospectively reviewing 1000 sequential cases treated by a single physician academic surgical practice. The following information from the referring provider was abstracted for each case: photograph, measurement from an anatomic landmark, diagram, and nomenclature on the pathology report. One hundred ninety-six referrals (19.6%) were accompanied by documentation that adequately identified the biopsy site, independent of the patient's ability to recall the site; 23 (2.3%) had a photograph, six (0.6%) had a measurement from an anatomic landmark, and 167 (16.7%) had a diagram. The nomenclature used for biopsy sites on the pathology report specifically and correctly identified the anatomic location of the tumor for 293 referrals (29.3%). This study showed that most referrals for Mohs surgery lacked sufficient documentation to enable objective identification of biopsy sites.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Availability of Biopsy Site Documentation for Mohs Surgery

Ochoa

Lawrence

2015

Journal of the Dermatology Nurses' Association

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“…7,10,15,16 In fact, wrong-site surgery is one of the leading causes of medical malpractice lawsuits among Mohs surgeons. 17 This prospective study was performed to look at the incidence of patient difficulty with surgical site identification in Mohs micrographic surgery and to evaluate any contributing factors. Of the 333 cases evaluated, 9% of the patients were unable to confidently identify their surgical site on the day of Mohs micrographic surgery.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Difficulty with surgical site identification: What role does it play in dermatology?

Rossy¹,

Lawrence²

2012

Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology

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“…34 This correlates with improper performance of procedures having the second highest number of malpractice claims against dermatologists, 35 and WSS being the most common reason for claims against surgeons who perform MMS. 36 A recent survey of 150 dermatologists also revealed WSS to be the most frequent serious error encountered in their practice, with 21 instances reported. 2 To address these potential errors, JCAHO instituted the universal protocol in 2004, 37 consisting of a preprocedure verification process, marked procedure site, and time out before beginning a procedure.…”

Section: Wrong-site Surgery Key Pointsmentioning

confidence: 99%