Liability Risks in Interdisciplinary Care: Thinking Outside the Box Dr. Gabriela Prada Principal Research Associate The Conference Board of Canada prada@conferenceboard.ca June 11, 2007 www.conferenceboard.ca
The Conference Board of Canada Mission The Conference Board builds leadership capacity for a better Canada by creating and sharing insights on economic trends, public policy, and organizational performance. www.conferenceboard.ca
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About this Report • Liability issues had been mentioned in many consultations as a source of concern for IDC practices • Research question: should liability risks deter participation in IDC practices? • Health Canada provided financial support to answer this question www.conferenceboard.ca
Methodology • A systematic collection and analysis of court decisions in Canada addressing negligence in the provision of health services • A search for relevant U.S. court cases • A review of articles in Canadian and international health- care and legal academic journals that examine liability issues in IDC practices • An analysis of findings from a reference group meeting • An analysis of findings from 8 interviews with professional insurers, protective associations and brokers • A review of malpractice liability insurance in five countries www.conferenceboard.ca
Liability Risks for Health Professionals • Main sources of personal liability risks are type of profession, specialization and geographic area of work • IDC introduces additional risks: – Inappropriate delegation of duties – Abdication of responsibilities – Joint and several liability www.conferenceboard.ca
Recommendations for Health Professionals Health professionals need to: • Understand their scope of practice and their limitations as set out in the provincial legislation • Understand the scopes of practice of the other health professionals in the team • Be aware of, and comply with, policies that govern their interdisciplinary interactions • Ensure they and their partners have professional liability insurance www.conferenceboard.ca
Liability Risks for Health Care Organizations • Inadequate policies • Breach of institutional policies • Vicarious liability A legal reminder: Incorporations and partnerships do not limit individual responsibilities and may even increase them www.conferenceboard.ca
Recommendations for Health Care Organizations Health care organizations need to ensure that: – Policies are in place to guide interdisciplinary care and all health professionals are aware of them – Health professionals act according to the standards of practice of their professions and comply with their respective regulatory colleges www.conferenceboard.ca
Recommendations for Health Care Organizations (Cont’d) – They have malpractice liability insurance that covers them and their employees – All professionals have appropriate malpractice liability/insurance protection (this should be reinforced during annual performance reviews) – Video www.conferenceboard.ca
Legal Considerations • Existing case law suggests that courts recognize the critical importance of a team approach and the need for professionals to rely on each other for care provision • Courts are likely to continue to assess standard of care on an individual basis and would be unlikely to apply a standard of care that exceeds the health professional’s scope of practice www.conferenceboard.ca
Concluding Remarks • IDC brings some liability risks for health professionals and health care organizations • However, these risks pose no significant barriers as they can be controlled with straightforward precautions • Liability concerns should not deter participation in IDC practices www.conferenceboard.ca
To download Liability Risks in Interdisciplinary Care: Thinking Outside the Box visit our website at: www.conferenceboard.ca Any Questions? www.conferenceboard.ca
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