Welcome to Difficult Conversations with Dr. Anthony Orsini. On today’s episode, we’re going to talk about two topics that most people avoid:  medical errors and malpractice lawsuits.  My guest today is Shari Moore, Vice President of Risk Management at Physician’s Liability Insurance Company, also known as PLICO, in Oklahoma.  Shari has more than twenty-three years of experience in the adult care setting, including nine years at Risk of Management and three years as Case Management.  Her mission is to provide proactive risk management education to physicians across Oklahoma to improve the quality of experience for both the physician and the patient. As always, Dr. Orsini keeps his promise about two things, that you will feel inspired, and you will have learned valuable lessons to be a better and more compassionate communicator.

Shari tells us her journey from  a Registered Nurse, to the Risk Management field, to her job at PLICO.  We find out what attracted her to Risk Management.  Dr. Orsini mentions the staggering statistics of how much medical malpractice lawsuits cost, and Shari talks about how important communication is in educating and training doctors to form relationships and avoid malpractice.  She tells about PLICO, and how valuable it is for physicians to learn  in-person and interact with other people who are dealing with the same issues.  Dr. Orsini shares some important tips when he teaches conflict resolution.  Shari shares advice on what she does to educate doctors and risk managers on how to reveal that medical error. Also, she tells us two big mistakes physicians make when it comes to having that conversation.  We learn how the relationship should work with the risk manager and the doctor when medical errors occur. Shari tells us a few stories about people that attended their educational programs and how being compassionate, caring, and saying you’re sorry may help in preventing a lawsuit. Last July, PLICO just implemented a Proactive Litigation Support Program, and Shari fills us in on what that entails. Dr. Orsini talks about physicians having the highest suicide rate of any profession. They discuss the stresses involved when a doctor gets sued and how we really need to take care of our doctors and nurses if we’re going to help this issue.  We end with Shari telling us the most difficult conversation that she’s encountered and advice on how to navigate through it, and Dr. Orsini shares a great little piece of advice his father told him at a young age.  If you enjoyed this podcast, please hit follow, and download all the previous episodes to find out more about what we do and how we teach communication. 

Host: 

Dr. Anthony Orsini

Guest:

Shari Moore

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It’s All In The Delivery: Improving Healthcare Starting With A Single Conversation by Dr. Anthony Orsini

Resources Mentioned:

Shari Moore Linkedin

PLICO

Sorry Works! 2.0: Disclosure, Apology, and Relationships Prevent Medical Malpractice Claims by Doug Wojcieszak