Safety Net

As AI takes root in the delivery of healthcare from clinical analysis to appointment-making, two physician safety leaders think about governance and concerns raised through the Academic Medical Center Patient Safety Organization at CRICO.

Hospital birthing center uses a teams-based protocol to honor patient’s wishes and focused communication tactics among providers and with patients.

Defendants in the Harvard medical community have a new way to learn about the legal machinery and personal coping strategies they’ll need to be good participants in their defense. Listeners learn how a leading edge litigation preparation video program was incubated through CRICO, with guests Gita Pensa, MD and CRICO’s VP of Claims, Beth Cushing, JD.

What can you say after 45 years defending doctors, nurses, and hospitals in the Harvard medical community? A lot. Defending providers in court requires something different in 2026 than what prevailed in the 1980s, according to John Cassidy, who is retiring as senior partner at Ficksman and Conley. He shares his wisdom and insights for success in medmal defenses today and the future.

Progress in the work to solve a problem that threatens all providers and their patients: doctors often don’t seek mental health care because they fear the impact on their careers.

Communication errors in medmal cases are expensive and becoming more frequent among patients and providers. A new data report from Candello in the Harvard medical community looks at the increasing role played by communication failures, and how more complicated care in the outpatient setting means more complicated communication between providers and patients.

If a clinician is sued for medical malpractice and the case never goes to trial, they dodged a bullet right? A physician defendant shares what it was like to be sued, and going through all the ups and downs of defending himself against charges of negligence before the unexpected happened. His patient dropped the case just before trial.

For primary care clinicians, a top risk area is related to allegations of delayed diagnosis of cancer. Data in the Harvard system show that the top three cancers in primary care litigation are prostate, lung, and breast cancer. Harvard’s Marc Garnick, MD is a national expert on prostate cancer and liability sharing how to communicate with patients about risks and benefits of testing and interventions to minimize allegations of negligence.

A discussion with two legal experts in the Harvard system about why depositions are critical in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Attorneys Lisa Wichter and Alex Terry use their courtroom experience to explain how affect, demeanor, and preparation can change case outcomes.

In a review of Candello’s database of claims from malpractice insurers across the country, documentation failures emerged in one out of every five medical professional liability cases. They are also much more likely to close with a payment with higher than average dollar amounts.