Why Certain Hospital Transfers Could Result in New York Medical Malpractice

Hospital Transfers and New York Medical Malpractice

Sometimes a patient is received by a hospital and needs to be transferred to another hospital or provider.  This could be because a patient has injuries that the hospital is not equipped to handle, or another area hospital is better for that type of injury.  This is common with burn injuries, like Albany Medical Center having a great burn unit but other local hospitals do not have the same resources.  Other times a patient is ready to leave the hospital but still needs care in a rehabilitation center or nursing home, and the patient must be transferred.  While many hospital to hospital or hospital to nursing home transfers do without an issue, sometimes hospital transfers could result in New York medical malpractice.

These instances of medical malpractice are serious too!  And they can happen in the reverse, like when a nursing home transfers a patient to a hospital for treatment.

The most common hospital transfers and errors that could be due to New York medical malpractice include errors such as the following:

• Failing to properly fill out transfer information;
• Failing to perform final checks of a patient;
• Not sending the proper chart;
• Improperly preparing a patient for transfer;
• Confusing patients and sending the wrong patient or the wrong chart;
• Forgetting about patients waiting to be transferred;
• When receiving a patient failing to properly re-check and evaluate the patient;
• Not following transfer orders;
• Transferring the patient to the wrong facility;
• Delaying in transferring the patient for way too long and therefore causing injuries; and
• Other common causes.

Patients who are not properly transferred may be seriously injured or wrongfully killed due to the negligence of the hospital, nursing home, or other healthcare provider who is either receiving the patient or transferring the patient.  Both facilities should be liable, even though sometimes only one will be.  Hospital transfers can be dangerous.

But what do you think?  I would love to hear from you!  Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com.  You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.