When you undergo a medical procedure, there’s always a certain level of risk. But what if the doctor operating on you has a history of complications you don’t know about it?
Experts say it can be hard for the general public to find and digest a disciplinary history of a doctor. A KIRO 7 investigation also found it can often take months, sometimes years, for disciplinary investigations to be completed.
So what can you do?
To find the answer, we sat down with Dr. Yanling Yu and her husband Rex Johnson, who founded Washington Advocates for Patient Safety more than a decade ago.
“We are a nonprofit grassroots patient safety organization,” Yu said.
“We’ve gotten two bills passed so far specifically to improve patient safety in Washington State,” Johnson said.
The organization posts resources online and hosts in-person workshops about how to protect yourself from medical harm. They started the organization after they say they lost Yu’s father to a medical error.
“My dad was not alone,” Yu said. “Nobody noticed them because they died quietly.”
Their advice: research a doctor’s experience, background and certifications. You could also look for how long they have been doing this specific procedure and how many they have performed.
They recommend also searching reviews by other patients, as well as court records for malpractice cases against a doctor. However, know this may involve searching individual court systems in counties where you know a doctor has practiced.
“Know that they’re just allegations in a complaint until you have a jury verdict, or until the matter has been disposed of in another capacity,” said medical malpractice attorney, Gary Samms, a shareholder with Marshall Dennehey law firm. He’s defended doctors and hospitals for more than 30 years.
Samms also warned a doctor could have complaints about bad outcomes that don’t involve any negligence or unprofessional conduct.
He noted that some doctors perform more difficult procedures that may have higher rates of complications.
“Some just have a certain social demographic where the people don’t have access to continued follow up care, so they’re prone to more infections or things of that nature,” he said. “It’s a very nuanced issued.”
Aside from malpractice court records, you can also search state medical boards, which investigate patient complaints. Remember though, these investigations can take months, even years to complete.
“There’s no instantaneous information you can get,” Yu said
In Washington, you can search for disciplinary orders against medical professionals on the Washington Medical Commission website here.
You should know if your doctor has moved states, so you can search medical boards in those states too. While many states may issue their own sanctions in recognition of disciplinary measures taken in another state, those can take months to catch up.
You might be wondering if there’s a national database that compiles this information. The answer is yes — states are required to report certain disciplinary measures to the National Practitioner Data Bank. Hospitals are required to check it, both when hiring or granting privileges to a new provider and on an ongoing basis.
The problem is that doctors’ names are kept anonymous from public view.
Attorney Chryssa Deliganis, who is also an assistant professor of law at Seattle University, recommends this website as an alternative.
“It is run by a nonprofit that has the goal of increasing transparency,” Deliganis said. “It might not be totally comprehensive but it is considered a pretty accurate clearinghouse.”
On the site, you can type in a provider and watch a state-by-state breakdown of information pop up.
Once you have selected a provider, experts urge you to take an active role in your care.
“The patient has a responsibility, part of the responsibility,” Johnson said.
“We always tell people, ask questions, ask questions, ask questions,” Yu said.
You can also check various health facilities for adverse events by using this Washington Department of Health tool.
After your procedure, if something does goes wrong during your medical care, it can be uphill battle to prove it.
“People have other underlying conditions that may or may not predispose them to negative outcomes,” Deliganis said. “These are difficult, time-consuming cases to prepare.”
They’re also hard to win. A 2008 study published in the National Library of Medicine found physicians win 50% of jury trials in cases with “strong evidence of medical negligence.”
“Almost certainly there are lots of injured parties who are, who never are able to get regress for their harm,” Deliganis said.
Deliganis urges injured or harmed parties to consider hiring a medical malpractice attorney, especially when trying to go up against health systems that have a team of lawyers already.
Many, she said, will offer free consultations and she encourages you to shop around before selecting one. Look for how long they have been practicing law, their areas of expertise and what cases they might have previously won.
Many lawyers also may offer to not charge you unless you win your case or settle, in what’s known as a contingency fee agreement.
Even with a lawyer, make sure you do your part too. Deliganis said it’s critical to document everything during your medical care.
Outside the legal system, consider complaining to the state’s medical board. Your complaint could result in an investigation that leads to a formal sanction that could help inform others.
Advocates like Yu and Johnson are pushing for more transparency when it comes to the healthcare industry — while others caution against rushing to judgement about a complaint before a defendant is granted their due process.
“You should be able to find out how many errors they have, who did the errors, what they did about the errors to correct them,” Johnson said. “If you are transparent and you learn from your mistakes, you will make fewer mistakes in the future.”
“You have to look at every allegation seriously, but you can’t assume that it’s correct until you’ve done the due diligence and evaluate all of the circumstances that existed at the time,” Samms said.
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