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Why Does Negligence Occur in Urgent Care Facilities?

Sep 17, 2020 | Firm News, Hospital Negligence

Unfortunately, negligence occurs in every area of the medical field—including in urgent care facilities.

You may be inclined to visit an urgent care center if you’re suffering from an illness or injury that doesn’t seem to be life-threatening but shouldn’t wait until the next day.

Continue reading to learn more about medical negligence in urgent care facilities.

Reasons for Medical Negligence

Failure to Diagnose

The most common reason for a medical malpractice lawsuit in any facility is the failure to diagnose. According to The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine (JUCM), the following ailments are most commonly misdiagnosed:

  • Pneumonia

  • Decompensated heart failure

  • Acute renal failure

  • Cancer

  • Urinary tract infections

In fact, failure to diagnose is so common in urgent care centers that it represents 20% of all medical malpractice claims. One possible reason for this is because patients aren’t often adequately reevaluated throughout the duration of their illnesses.

Lack of Continuity of Care

Continuity of care refers to the quality of care that a patient receives over time. There are two primary perspectives on this phenomenon: that of the physician and that of the patient.

According to a study published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), U.S. National Library of Medicine, “Continuity in the experience of care relates conceptually to patients’ satisfaction with both the interpersonal aspects of care and the coordination of that care. Experienced continuity may be valued in its own right. In contrast, continuity in the delivery of care cannot be evaluated solely through patients’ experiences, and is related to important aspects of services such as ‘case-management’ and ‘multidisciplinary team working’.”

According to another study published in the NCBI, “Continuity of care has always been at the heart of general practice. Patients who receive continuity have better healthcare outcomes, higher satisfaction rates, and the health care they receive is more cost-effective.”

Since most patients who visit urgent care facilities are unable to see the same physician multiple times, this makes continuity of care very difficult to achieve. Urgent care physicians are constantly having to learn about new patients and make quick decisions about their health in order to help provide favorable outcomes.

Medical Negligence is Illegal

If you’ve been harmed as a result of negligence in an urgent care facility or some other medical center, you may be owed compensation. Our team here at Garau Germano, P.C. is highly skilled in the area of medical malpractice law and has helped many other people in similar situations achieve justice. Let us see if we can help you, too. Don’t wait—contact our team with your case right away.

Contact the medical malpractice attorneys at Garau Germano, P.C. today by calling to discuss the details of your case.

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