Decrease your Liability Risk By Prioritizing Asynchronous Patient Communication

Dec 30, 2024 | by Brad Bichey

Definitions

Asynchronous Communication: Communication that does not occur in real time. Participants can send and receive messages at their convenience, and there is no requirement for an immediate response. Examples: SMS (text messaging) and email.

Synchronous Communication: Communication that occurs in real time, requiring all participants to be present and engaged simultaneously. Example: Phone calls.


Comparison Summary of Asynchronous vs. Synchronous Communication
Comparison Summary of Asynchronous vs. Synchronous Communication

Professional Explanation of Liability Risk in Physician-Patient Communication

Physicians should prioritize maintaining documented records of patient communications in a format that provides verifiable, objective evidence of what was said. Text messages or emails from patients offer inherent advantages over phone calls documented solely through physician notes due to the following reasons:

1. Verifiability and Objectivity

  • Text Messages and Emails: These provide a direct record of the patient’s words, including specific symptoms, concerns, or questions. The content is timestamped and can be reproduced verbatim in legal proceedings.
  • Phone Calls: Documentation of a phone call relies solely on the physician’s notes, which are inherently subjective and prone to potential errors or omissions.

2. Risk of Discrepancies in Legal Proceedings

  • Text and Email Records: These reduce the risk of disputes about what was communicated, as the patient’s own written statements serve as direct evidence.
  • Phone Call Notes: These notes may be questioned if the patient disputes the physician’s recollection or claims key details were omitted.

3. Detail and Context Preservation

  • Electronic Communications: Text and email records include exact phrasing, which may convey subtleties about the patient’s condition or urgency.
  • Phone Call Notes: Typically summarized, leading to potential loss of nuances that could be critical in legal or medical contexts.

4. Compliance with Documentation Standards

Maintaining a record of patient communications is often required for compliance with healthcare regulations. Text and email communications automatically create a complete, easily retrievable record.


5. Risk of Miscommunication Allegations

  • Electronic Communications: Patients are less likely to claim they were misinformed or misunderstood when they have provided input in writing.
  • Phone Calls: Disputes over verbal exchanges are common, and without a verifiable record, the physician is left to defend their version of events based on personal notes.

Important Takeaways When Considering an AI Phone System (Synchronous AI)

Using a pure AI phone system that employs synchronous communication to interact with patients introduces several potential risks from a liability standpoint. Below are some key risks to consider:

1. Miscommunication or Misinterpretation of Information

  • Risk: AI systems may misinterpret patient concerns, symptoms, or questions due to limited contextual understanding, accents, or ambiguous language.
  • Liability Implication: If the AI provides incorrect or incomplete information, it could lead to delayed care and potential harm, leaving the practice liable.

2. Inability to Recognize Emergency Situations

  • Risk: AI systems may struggle to accurately identify urgent conditions, such as a patient describing chest pain or stroke symptoms.
  • Liability Implication: Failure to detect and respond to emergencies could result in severe harm, leading to malpractice claims.

3. Lack of Empathy and Emotional Intelligence

  • Risk: Patients often seek reassurance, empathy, or a nuanced understanding of their concerns when speaking with medical staff.
  • Liability Implication: Patients who feel neglected or dismissed by an AI system may file complaints, citing emotional distress or inadequate care.

4. Incomplete Documentation

  • Risk: AI systems may fail to accurately log important details, such as specific patient requests or concerns.
  • Liability Implication: Poor documentation could lead to allegations of negligence or mismanagement of patient care.

5. Algorithm Bias or Limitations

  • Risk: AI systems are only as good as the data used to train them. They may have inherent biases or fail to recognize conditions in diverse patient populations.
  • Liability Implication: Biases in the AI system could result in unequal care, misdiagnosis, or inappropriate responses, leading to discrimination claims or malpractice suits.

Conclusion

For liability risk management, it is preferable to have a record of text messages or emails where the patient’s statements are preserved verbatim. While AI phone systems cut costs and decrease practice burden, phone calls require greater diligence in documentation and still leave room for disputes.

Electronic communications, when properly archived and protected for privacy, provide stronger legal protection and reduce the risk of miscommunication or documentation errors.

Fire up!