Humorous Perceptions

June 15, 2007 | by Dave | Permalink | Trackback


At today’s NYSAFC Fire Expo 2007, Dr. Mike McEvoy talked about A Fire Chief’s Guide to EMS Oversight.

Sometimes the perception of what (actually) happened is misconstrued and can be interpreted, not in your favor. A humorous example:



Much of the talk was focused on avoiding (or minimizing) litigation against your agency. It was surprising to learn that approximately only 1 in 20,000 calls results in a legal battle. Not very many, but make sure that you’re not in charge of that one.

Two of the topics covered were Documentation and Quality Improvement (QI). Documentation principally is to:

  1. Convey your findings and treatment
    • To other caregivers
    • To payors
  2. Serves as a tool for assessment of your professional conduct.

There is a perception that “if you don’t write it, it didn’t happen” and Dr. McEvoy provided several cases where it is best not to write every detail - only document the information pertinent to the call.

One aspect of QI I haven’t heard formally before was removing complaints from the process. Let Risk Management or Personnel handle complaints. More on QI from his perspective can be read at Fire Engineering Magazine (unfortunately, login required).

Many proactive organizations are now pushing (even harder) to change the notion of QA/QI to be positive and recognize excellence. With this effort and internal change, we’ll all be practicing better, documenting more effectively, and thus minimizing unnecessary legal issues.



Posted by Dave on June 15, 2007 | Permalink & Trackback