“If a patient behaves inappropriately, vulgarly or aggressively, it is absolutely appropriate to include data about this behavior as specifically as possible in his medical documentation,” advises the director of the legal section of the Czech Medical Chamber, Jan Mach, in a monthly magazine for doctors.
It is useful if people complain about the care provided and take it to court. Very often, families sue doctors for alleged malpractice in children and seek compensation. In many cases they were granted.
Increasingly, however, staff face aggressive outbursts from patients. The chamber therefore appeals to members to write down incidents in their health card, but to forgive “unfounded considerations” and not to enter “upset at inappropriate patient behavior” if it has nothing to do with the provision of care.
“It must always be about facts related to the provision of health services, or their refusal. There is absolutely no question of any self-serving remarks, subjective assessment or unfounded presumptions on the part of the doctor,” pointed out Ladislav Loebehe, representative of the ParaCentrum Fénix organization, on behalf of the National Association of Patient Organizations.
The aggressiveness of patients is increasing, says the nurse. Paramedics take a self-defense course
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However, they support the intention, they do not see a problem in the adequate description of the behavior. “Patients must realize that all the circumstances of their approach to treatment are relevant,” he added. Likewise, the doctor must remember that it is not their personal file.
Choosing another treatment
But it’s not just about incidents. “Medical documentation can and in justified cases should also contain data on communication with the patient, on the patient’s opinion on the doctor’s recommendation, or his decision on the next treatment procedure, if several possible treatment procedures are considered,” Mach pointed out for the chamber.
This protects both the doctor and the patient. It will help explain why he didn’t get the treatment his specialist recommended. Requiring the patient to agree to every sentence is nonsense, according to NAPO.
“We cannot imagine that the patient should look at the documentation at every visit and agree to what the doctor wrote in it. In most cases, such a procedure would be unnecessary and the patient would not even be interested in it. Such a procedure should take place only in specific cases, upon request,” emphasized Loebehe.
Any patient can request all medical records at any time and make a copy or extract from them. However, it does not affect their content. The doctor must not delete anything from the card and must enter the correction in the card separately so that it is obvious what he has written.
Officials without erudition will be able to view patient records, the government has approved
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The provision of documentation must be free of charge, unless they are notorious applicants who request materials repeatedly. A group of government MPs wants to enact it, and they proposed incorporating it into the amendment to the Act on Health Services currently being discussed.
Regional officials handling patient complaints about hospitals will soon be able to view medical records without their consent. The amendment, which is awaiting final approval by the deputies, takes this into account. Employees of the financial authorities, who control the accounting and payments of doctors working for cash, also wanted this authority. They failed.
People can also complain to the hospital ombudsman.
Doctors can charge whatever they want. Checks are short on them
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Tags: patient attacking threatening Write documentation chamber advises doctors
