How to respond to a patient complaint, negative reviews and criticism on the Internet

Quite often, the latter makes justified or unfounded claims against the medical organization that provided medical services to the patient. This may be caused by the patient’s dissatisfaction with the quality, timing, final cost of medical services provided (and other reasons). Also, a patient’s resentment regarding any personal relationship with a doctor or other clinic staff may be the cause of a conflict between the patient and the medical organization.

However, when a patient’s claim is received by a medical organization, the reasons and grounds for the conflict are already secondary; for the medical organization, the need to consider and respond to the claim comes to the fore.

This article will discuss issues related to responding to a patient's complaint.

Preparing a response to a patient’s complaint

Based on the decision of the medical commission, documented in the protocol, the patient is provided with an appropriate response, in which options for resolving any disagreements may be proposed. The response to the patient’s complaint is signed by the head of the medical organization.

Sample explanatory note from a doctor regarding a patient’s complaint

The patient is exposed to intellectual and cognitive disorders, the emotional-volitional sphere of life changes radically (there is no sense of shame, duty, vital interests and spiritual values disappear). In the initial stage, it can manifest itself in personality changes, such as a grouchy-angry mood, pronounced egocentrism.

Over time, such changes become more noticeable. Indicate in the explanatory note that you have obeyed the administrative regulations.

And don't admit your guilt. Pavel Artobalevsky (02/17/2015 at 18:10:26) Write the same as in the question. There are no witnesses to your “boorish” behavior. Visitor in years.

Maytakova Tatyana (02/17/2015 at 18:45:32) Hello. Describe all the events in the explanatory note, as described in the question.

Patient's complaint against doctors 2. Violation of sanitary and epidemiological rules Financial claims Here it can also be difficult to behave appropriately; there are often fears that a dissatisfied doctor will give “bad anesthesia” or will “treat worse.” But remember that you can always change your doctor, hospital or medical center.

Where to file a complaint against a doctor? Regional and city health departments A copy of the complaint (request) can also be sent to the Regional Health Insurance Fund (see Sample response to a complaint Let's return to the case with the lady in the Internet cafe.

Let us remind you that she returned to the establishment and again wrote it down in the guest book.

Claim consideration period

The RF Law of 02/07/1992 No. 2300-1 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights” (hereinafter referred to as the Law of the Russian Federation) applies to the relationship between the patient and the medical organization. This law provides for a ten-day period for satisfying individual consumer requirements, thus, the period for consideration of most claims based on the PPA (about poor-quality provision of medical services, about the provision of medical services with shortcomings, including significant ones, about violation of the patient’s right to receive information about medical services , about violation of the right to safety of services provided, etc.) should be no more than 10 days (Article 31 of the Law of the Russian Federation).

This period is calculated from the moment the patient’s claim is received. The time period for responding to a claim does not include the time period for delivery of a letter with a response by the postal service. In accordance with the rules of office work, any correspondence (documentation) received by the organization is advisable and necessary to be registered in the journal of incoming documentation. Thus, the medical organization must also register the received claim in the appropriate journal.

Such different complaints

The percentage of complaints against the work of people in white coats, drawn up correctly and indicating all

The required data is not that large, fortunately for healthcare. Very often, a paper is written under the influence of emotions, without paying due attention to the content and details. Therefore, you can safely ignore letters containing profanity and threats, insults, repetitions of complaints that have already been dealt with, anonymous complaints, letters written in illegible handwriting or demanding the disclosure of medical confidentiality.

No one is obliged to respond to complaints in which the return address and complete data of the patient are not indicated. If the claim was received by email, but there is no full name of the applicant, it is necessary to request them, otherwise such requests will not be considered either.

All these points are not a matter of the desire or unwillingness of the chief physician of the clinic; this is spelled out in Article 7 of Federal Law No. 59 “On the procedure for considering citizens’ appeals in the Russian Federation.” And Article 12 of the same legislative act regulates the period for consideration of written appeals; it is 30 days from the date of registration of the appeal.

At their core, claims can be divided into three types:

Dissatisfaction with the behavior of medical workers. As a rule, we are talking about disrespectful, rude treatment of the patient.
Disagreement with organizational issues in the work of the clinic. These are the notorious queues for appointments with specialists and the long waiting period for the opportunity to undergo examination.
Direct complaint about poor quality medical care.

Depending on the type of appeal, the methods of conflict resolution also differ.
In the first case, it is enough to assure the patient that a conversation was held with a specific employee (or group of employees), their attention was focused on preventing such treatment again and a thousand apologies were made. As a rule, this is where it all ends. Such conflicts rarely come to the point of writing an explanatory note, unless these complaints are received with enviable regularity against the same employee. In the second case, the tactics should be different, namely: a lack of medical personnel, equipment, offices and other well-known facts that make it impossible to promptly and quickly provide services to visitors of a medical organization. But the management of the clinic is constantly taking all possible measures to quickly resolve these pressing issues. The doctor is unlikely to be forced to write an explanatory note for this type of complaint, since organizational issues are not within his competence.

But with the third type, everything is not so simple. Here we are talking about the discrepancy between the doctor’s level of training, lack of experience, or desire. In any case, you will have to write an answer. And it needs to be written based on the fact that this kind of case very often ends up in court. An explanatory note from the doctor regarding the patient’s complaint is submitted to the head of the medical organization.

Contents of the response to the complaint

Current legislation does not regulate this issue. Typically the response to a complaint contains:

Full name, address, contact phone number of the patient;
name and address of the medical organization;
The name of the document is “Response to the claim.”
descriptive part (factual circumstances of the case): date of receipt of the claim, essence of the claim, patient’s requirements;
motivation part: circumstances established by the medical commission; evidence on which the medical commission’s conclusions about these circumstances are based; reasons why the medical commission rejects or agrees with certain evidence;
legal basis for the response to the claim;
operative part: full or partial satisfaction of the patient’s claim, refusal to satisfy the patient’s claim.
options for resolving the dispute (concluding an agreement on the settlement of claims, a proposal to conclude an agreement on conducting a mediation procedure, etc.);
date of filing the claim, signature of the head of the medical organization (chief physician, general director, etc.);
attachment to the response to the claim: documents confirming the validity of the response to the claim (if any).

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Patient's complaints

Rehabilitation program

1. Patient complaints

All complaints, according to their nature and the way they were received from the patient, are very conventionally divided into main ones - these are those that, in your opinion, constitute the subject of the disease, accompanying ones - they have no direct relation to the real disease, then complaints identified when interviewing the patient about existing organ dysfunctions and systems. When presenting complaints in a rehabilitation program, you should not make headlines; “main complaints, accompanying complaints”, etc., although it is advisable to present them in grouped form, with the main complaints being stated first, and then the accompanying ones. The complaints that you identified in the process of interviewing the patient regarding the activity of organs and systems, before recording them, should also be divided into main and accompanying ones, outlining them according to their affiliation. It should be remembered that concomitant pathology, as a rule, aggravates the severity of the main process and requires serious attention.

The curator collects complaints for the present time, and not at the time the patient was admitted to the hospital. The moment of conversation determines the present tense.

Each complaint must be described in as much detail as possible. If there are pains, then it is necessary to indicate their localization, duration, intensity, nature, connection with dyspeptic, dysuric or other disorders, with food intake or bowel movement, with any factors of everyday life or work, weather, season: indicate, influence whether pain affects the function of a particular organ or part of the body: the position of the patient during pain, the remedies usually used for pain and their effect.

The patient's other main complaints are described in detail in the same way. If the patient does not indicate accompanying complaints, then you should ask: “Does anything else bother you, besides the complaints already stated.” Thus, it is possible to find out that, for example, in addition to swelling, hyperemia, sharp throbbing pain in the area of the nail phalanx of the first finger of the right hand, the patient has thirst, itching of the skin, migrating pain throughout the body, and more often along the course of the large or small intestine, which when Further examination of the patient will reveal the concomitant disease “diabetes”. Then the third group of complaints is revealed, which the patient himself does not present, but which can only be found out through a survey of organs and systems. Previously noted complaints are no longer mentioned. The state of the central nervous system and psyche is determined: mood, sleep, well-being after sleep, headaches, irritability, tearfulness, interest in work, etc.; state of the sense organs: smell, hearing, vision, touch; respiratory organs: shortness of breath, chest pain, cough, presence, nature and amount of sputum, hemoptysis, nosebleeds; circulatory system: shortness of breath due to physical activity, swelling of the extremities, pain in the heart, etc.; digestive organs: appetite, swallowing, heartburn, belching, nausea, vomiting, pain in various parts of the abdomen, discharge through the gastrointestinal tract (character of stool, its regularity, frequency of bowel movements; urinary organs: frequency of urination, its disorders, cramps, pain during this, a decrease or increase in the amount of urine and the patient’s opinion about the possible causes of these phenomena.

2. History of the disease

In this section of the RP, it is necessary to describe in strict, chronological order the onset, course and development of the underlying disease from its very first manifestations and its possible causes until the patient is examined by the curator. The effect on the course of the disease of various types of therapeutic measures, inpatient, outpatient or sanatorium-resort treatment is described.

If the history of a traumatic injury is described, the exact time of injury, the mechanism and nature of the injury, the condition and position of the patient’s body at the time of injury, the nature of first aid and its volume, the nature of transportation, etc. are indicated.

3. Life history

The area where the patient was born, the age and health of the parents at the birth of the patient. Diseases of childhood.

Working life with a brief description of the profession and working conditions (occupational hazards, length of working day). Was there a blood transfusion and how was it tolerated? Sexual life, time of marriage (age). For men: wife’s health, number of pregnancies, births, abortions; children, their health. For women: health of husband and children; pregnancy and its course, complications; childbirth, abortion and their complications; spontaneous miscarriages; female diseases, time of last menstruation.

If the patient’s illnesses, operations, or injuries are noted, then it is necessary to indicate where the information was obtained from (from the patient’s words, from certificates, etc.), at what age they were suffered, and what impact they had on health in the future. Issues of heredity and family history: diseases in the family of malignant neoplasms, metabolic diseases, mental, venereal diseases, tuberculosis; the presence of developmental defects (anomalies), congenital diseases in the family.

Living conditions. Bad habits: smoking (cigarettes, cigarettes, pipe; amount of tobacco smoked), alcohol consumption, drug addiction, substance abuse, abuse of tea, coffee. Drug tolerance.

OBJECTIVE EXAMINATION DATA

Regardless of the nature and localization of the disease, a complete and methodical examination of the patient, all his organs and systems is carried out, sequentially, using inspection, palpation, percussion and auscultation.

The patient's condition is assessed - good, quite satisfactory, moderate, severe, very severe, agonizing. Consciousness: clear, confused, absent. Position: active, passive, forced. Facial expression: normal or does not present any painful manifestations, suffering, sad, excited.

The physique is correct, there are some irregularities (stooping, deformities). Nutrition: good, satisfactory, excessive.

Body temperature.

Skin: normal color, pale, cyanotic (indicate the places where cyanosis is most pronounced - lips, nails), icteric, sallow; pigmentation, rashes, scars, scratching, peeling, bedsores; skin elasticity, sweating. Hair and nails.

Visible mucous membranes: normal color, pale, icteric, pigmentation, ulcerations, rashes.

Subcutaneous tissue: degree of development (weak, moderate, excessive). Edema, its localization, distribution.

Lymphatic system: lymph nodes can be palpated or not (submandibular, cervical, subclavian, axillary, ulnar, inguinal). The size of the lymph nodes (do not compare with berries or fruits! Approximately or accurately express the size in centimeters). Their consistency, pain, fusion with each other and with surrounding tissues.

Muscles. General development: good, moderate, weak. Painful to touch. Tone is normal, increased, decreased. Local hypertrophy and atrophy. Bones. Deformities, visible tumors. Pain upon palpation, percussion, or axial load. Measuring limb length at various levels. Change in gait. Vicious attitudes.

Joints. Configuration: normal, deformities, contractures and ankylosis. Pain on palpation. Movements are passive and active, their volume, their measurement. Definition of Roser-Nelyatov, Schumacher lines, Briand triangle, Guter line and triangle. Symptom of patellar ballotation.

The chest and its organs:

The shape of the chest is normal, conical, barrel-shaped, cylindrical, paralytic, rachitic, chicken-shaped, funnel-shaped. Deformations (hump, etc.). Breast asymmetry, retraction of the supra- or subclavian spaces, protrusion or retraction of one side of the chest. Position of the shoulder blades: tight fit to the chest, lag.

Type of breathing: predominantly costal, predominantly abdominal, extended exhalation, extended inhalation. Breathing rhythm: correct, number of respiratory movements per minute; respiration of Kusmaul, Cheyne-Stokes, Biot. The state of the intercostal spaces during deep breathing (protrusion, retraction). Feeling the chest: painful places, swelling of the integument (specify location). Measuring the circumference of the chest at the level of the nipples during inhalation and exhalation.

Percussion of the lungs. Comparative percussion: percussion sound is pulmonary, box, tympanic, dull, dull (precise determination of the boundaries of each sound: in the vertical direction - on the clavicle, along the ribs and intercostal spaces, and in the horizontal direction - along the lines of the sternoclavicular, anterior, middle, and posterior axillary, scapular and vertebral right and left). The height of the apexes in front above the clavicle and behind - in relation to the spinous process of the VII cervical vertebra. The lower border along all lines on each side. Excursion to the edge of the lungs. Comparative definition of vocal tremors. Voice tremors unchanged, weakened, increased (exact localization).

Auscultation of the lungs is comparative. Breathing is vesicular, hard, bronchial. Amphoric: mixed indefinite, weakened, puerile, absence of respiratory noise (specify exactly the boundaries of the listening areas for each type of breathing).

The rales are dry (low-pitched, high-pitched, treble) and moist (voiced, unvoiced, small-, medium- and large-bubble). Crepitus. Localization of wheezing, the influence of coughing on its manifestation or change in quantity. Noise, pleural friction.

If necessary, spirometry is performed.

The cardiovascular system

Inspection and palpation of arteries. Arteries are unconvoluted, tortuous, soft, hard, nodular. Dance of the carotid. Pulse. Frequency is one minute. Size: full, high, small, low. Speed: normal, fast or slow. Tension: not tense, tense, soft. Dicrotic pulse. Rhythm: rhythmic pulse, arrhythmic (specify the type of arrhythmia). Blood pressure maximum and minimum.

Inspection and palpation of veins. Venous pulse (indicate where it is determined). Dilatation of the veins of the neck, chest, abdominal wall, limbs. Induration and pain when palpating the veins. For varicose veins of the lower extremities, describe the Troyanov-Trendelenburg symptom and the marching test.

Inspection of the heart area: cardiac hump, cardiac impulse (indicate where it is determined in relation to the left sternoclavicular line). Determining the location of the cardiac impulse by palpation, the impulse is intensified, stunning, lifting, limited in extent, diffuse (indicate the location again). Trembling. "Cat purr."

Percussion of the heart: right, left, upper limit of relative and absolute dullness of the heart.

Auscultation of the heart and large vessels. Tones are clear, dull, accentuated, split or bifurcated; weakening or loss of individual tones, indicating the place where all these changes were found. The rhythm is correct, cardiac activity is arrhythmic (indicate the type of arrhythmia: extrasystole, atrial fibrillation, etc.); pendulum rhythm, gallop rhythm; embryocardia. Noises: systolic, diastolic, presystolic, etc. Noise strength: sharp, weak. Timbre: soft, rough. Duration: long, short. The place where the noise is heard and its greatest intensity; places where it is held. Changes in the nature of noise when changing body position. Pericardial friction rub (where heard).

Functional tests Stange, Saabrase, after physical activity; time for normalization of pulse, respiration and blood pressure.

Digestive organs.

Mouth, Lips, their color: normal, pale, cyanotic. Dryness. Cracks. The mucous membrane of the inner surfaces of the lips, cheeks, hard and soft palate (usually pink, pale, hyperemia, pigmentation, ulcers). The gums are pale, loosened, bleeding.

Teeth: carious, loose, false, missing.

Tongue: wet, dry; unsurrounded, covered, (slightly, moderately, strongly); covered with crusts, cracks, ulcers, scars, swelling of the tongue. Raspberry tongue, lacquered tongue. Plaque color.

The pharynx is of normal color, red, swelling of the mucous membrane of the pharynx, dryness, plaque.

Tonsils are of normal size, hypertrophied, redness, swelling of the mucous membrane, plaque, purulent plugs.

Stomach. Abdomen shape: regular configuration, oval, pear-shaped, protruding, spreading. The size of the epigastric angle: acute, straight, obtuse. The abdomen is swollen, not swollen, retracted; partial retraction or retraction (asymmetry), is visible peristalsis noticeable; participates or does not participate in the act of breathing, is spared during breathing. Superficial palpation of the abdomen: the abdomen is soft or tense throughout and in certain sections, the presence of symptoms of peritoneal irritation. Deep sequential sliding palpation according to Obraztsov. Palpation of the sigmoid, descending, cecum, ascending, transverse colon, the border of the greater curvature of the stomach, liver, its lower border (the upper border is indicated on the basis of percussion).

Palpation of the spleen and intestinal segments.

Palpation of the kidneys. Definition of Pasternatsky's symptom. Percussion and palpation of the bladder area: not palpable, the height of its standing above the pubis during palpation. Auscultation of the abdomen (intestinal sounds: splashing sound, symptom of a falling drop, absence, weakening of peristalsis).

Nervous system and sensory organs. Speech is normal, scanned, stuttering and other types of dysarthria. Convulsions, paralysis, paresis. There are no sensory impairments, but there are (then indicate location). Tendon reflexes: normal, lively, weakened, not evoked, of varying strength on the right or left. Dermographism is white or red. Pharyngeal, corneal and pupillary reflexes are normal, weakened, and not evoked.

3. Rehabilitation outcomes and assessment of the degree of recovery

The degree of recovery can be assessed on a four-point scale: complete recovery; partial restoration; no change from the initial level; deterioration.

According to the materials of the International Labor Department, the following scale of the dynamics of recovery and possible outcomes of diseases and assessment of functional capabilities have been developed:

1. Restoration of functional ability to varying degrees.

1.1. Full recovery.

1.2. Partial restoration.

1.3. Compensation for limited functional recovery and no recovery.

1.4. Replacement (orthopedic or surgical) in the absence of restoration.

2. Restoring adaptation to everyday and professional life.

2.1. Developing readiness for work and everyday activities.

2.2. Occupational therapy.

3. Involvement in the labor process - determination of suitability for work, retraining.

4. Dispensary services for those being rehabilitated.

Studying the immediate and long-term results of rehabilitation measures allows us to systematically and effectively conduct the entire rehabilitation process, identifying the main tasks at each stage, and by selecting a set of adequate and effective means to achieve a successful result.

Bibliography

1. Dubrovsky V.I. Sports medicine: Textbook. for students higher textbook establishments. – 2nd ed., add. – M.: Humanite. ed. VLADOS center, 2002. – 512 p.: ill.

2. Murza V.P. Physical rehabilitation. Chief assistant. – K.: “Olan”, 2004. – 559 p.

3. Mukhin V.M. Physical rehabilitation. - K.: Olympic Literature, 2000. - 424 p.

4. Basics of physical rehabilitation: beginning. Pos_bnik. – Kirovograd: RVVKDPI im. V. Vinnichenka, 2004. – 238 p.

5. Physical rehabilitation: Textbook for academies and institutes of physical culture / Under the general editorship. prof. S.N. Popova. – Rostov n / D: publishing house “Phoenix”, 1999. – 608 p.

Rehabilitation program

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If the response to the complaint is unsatisfactory or missing

The response to the patient’s complaint may be satisfactory, unsatisfactory, or may be completely absent. Under such circumstances, the patient can use other pre-trial types of protection of rights (offer to resort to a mediation procedure for resolving a dispute, file a complaint with regulatory authorities or public organizations for the protection of patients’ rights, etc.), or immediately file a claim in a court of general jurisdiction.

How to write an explanatory note regarding a patient’s complaint

Attention: The presence of an explanatory note allows you to find out all the circumstances under which errors or misconduct were committed and determine the employee’s guilt in the incident. How to correctly and competently write an explanatory note at work to your boss or director. What are the reasons for an explanatory note at work? There are many reasons why a manager may require a subordinate to describe an incident in an explanatory note. Among the most common:

late
no-show
absence from work
unauthorized leaving before the end of the working day (shift)
refusal to perform duties
errors in work
failure to fulfill official duties
detection of violations by commission, inspection
violation of labor discipline

You should not immediately take hostility to the manager’s proposal to write an explanatory note. A written explanatory note is a statement by the employee of his own vision of the situation. This document will not allow superiors to interpret everything in their own way and punish an innocent subordinate. IMPORTANT: The Criminal Code of Russia warns that no one is obliged to testify against himself. Therefore, if the facts stated in the explanatory note confirm the guilt of the employee, he is not obliged to write it.

If the manager has not received an explanation 48 hours after the employee was asked to provide it, he has the right to apply disciplinary punishment. IMPORTANT: All explanatory notes are filed with the employee’s personal file and are stored for 75 years.

What are the reasons for an explanatory note at work? In whose name is an employee’s explanatory note at work written? Every employee can find out in whose name an explanatory note should be written. Home Questions and orders Write an explanation for a complaint Asking is faster than reading. lawyers! 8339 lawyers are waiting for you The author of the question is Russia I work in the administration, an elderly man was at the reception - the documents were not completed correctly, she began to explain that this was the administration’s decree.

He said that he had never seen such rude people before, not a single rude word was said by me! I grabbed the papers and went to the boss, the boss called and demanded an explanation. Labor Law | Olenegorsk Complain to moderator 300 rub.

Answers from lawyers Olga Vladimirovna Barabash (02/17/2015 at 07:12:09 pm) On such and such a date, at such and such a time, she was busy performing her job duties as usual. Such and such a visitor approached me with such and such a question.

It seemed to me that he was irritated by something. I answered this and that, while my intonation and gestures were normal.

Limitation period for appealing a response to a claim

If the patient’s claim is not satisfied or not satisfied to the extent necessary, the patient may go to court “in search of the truth.”

Sometimes patients, missing the statute of limitations, have no chance of having their claims satisfied in court. This happens because the general statute of limitations is 3 years, and for the quality of medical services provided, it is even 1 year. Thus, in each case, the statute of limitations depends on the specific requirements of the patient. For example, the rules on the statute of limitations do not extend and are not applied to claims for compensation for harm caused to the life or health of a citizen. Meanwhile, a claim for compensation for harm caused to life or health, submitted after 3 years from the moment the right to compensation for such harm arose, is satisfied only for 3 years preceding the filing of the claim (Article 208 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

In addition, the recognition by a medical organization of the principal debt, including in the form of its payment, does not in itself constitute evidence indicating the recognition of the patient’s additional claims (in particular, penalties, interest for the use of other people’s funds), as well as claims for compensation of losses . Accordingly, recognition by a medical organization of the principal debt cannot be regarded as a break in the limitation period for additional claims and claims for damages (clause 23 Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated November 12, 2001 No. 15, Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated November 15, 2001 No. 18 “ On some issues related to the application of the provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on the limitation period”).

What to write

Before you start drawing up a doctor’s letter of explanation for a complaint, it would be a good idea to communicate with the patient in person. If the situation has not yet reached the limit and the parties have not lost the ability to listen and hear each other, such a conversation can greatly facilitate the task facing the doctor when writing an answer. In any case, this step will not be superfluous, and will help to find out what the patient is counting on and how decisive he will be.

Let us repeat that everything written in this document must be thought out a hundred times and weighed based on the likelihood of litigation. And there they will ask questions about literally every word in the explanatory note. First, you need to thoroughly study the patient’s medical record. This needs to be done for two reasons: firstly, the doctor himself will be convinced of the correctness of his actions, and secondly, he will look at the card through the “eyes” of a possible forensic examination ordered by the court.

Therefore, you need to write slowly, thoughtfully and carefully. The main idea that should run like a red thread throughout the entire document is that all actions were carried out in strict accordance with current standards, methods and rules. Again, much depends on the consequences that occurred for the patient as a result of the doctor’s actions, which he considers incorrect. It is one thing when the length of stay in the clinic has increased by 2-3 days, and quite another if the patient was treated for a non-existent disease, but the present one has worsened and treatment requires considerable financial costs.

Each action must be accompanied by a reference to standards and methods. It is very good if, as required by the rules, there is informed consent from the patient for every medical procedure. Each institution has the right to independently develop and approve such consent form. This fact will greatly strengthen the position of doctors in court.

On the other hand, if the patient did not follow the recommendations and instructions of doctors and medical personnel, violated the hospital regime, insulted the clinic staff, all this can be confirmed; such facts will testify against the person who wrote the complaint.

Controversial opinions are caused by the situation when the doctor, albeit belatedly, discovered errors and non-compliance with the requirements in his actions. Some authors, and they can be understood, advise standing your ground to the end and hoping that the matter will not come to a forensic examination, and if it does, it will work out. Others advise honestly admitting your mistakes and hoping that management will treat them with understanding. As arguments, you can refer to excessive workload, poor health and other factors. In any case, you need to operate with such concepts as “honest delusion,” that is, the doctor sincerely believed that he was doing everything for the benefit of the patient and correctly. It’s just not advisable to apologize in writing. If the case comes to court, this very fact will be regarded as an admission of guilt; such examples already exist in judicial practice. Everything here is subjective and there are no general recommendations.

It all depends on the specific situation: how valuable a given specialist is to the clinic, whether this is the first time he has made a mistake or not, how inclined the patient is to agree to a “peace settlement”. “Amicable” in this case implies the willingness of the medical organization to compensate all losses to the client, and not bring the case to court.

It is possible to compensate for losses in several ways: prosthetics, enhanced nutrition, sanatorium treatment, the purchase of corrective equipment (wheelchairs and others), and the cost of paying hired personnel (if the victim himself is not able to perform everyday activities and take care of himself).
In any case, the amount of payments that the health care institution will incur before the case is heard in court is definitely less than what the judge set. After all, he has the right to also recover the amount of compensation for moral damage, and not just material damage. And in terms of terms, a judge, taking into account endless appeals, can last more than one year.

Participation of the medical commission in considering the patient’s claim

In any case, when receiving a patient’s complaint against a medical organization, you should take the response to it seriously. Firstly, for any of the parties, usually “a bad peace is better than a good quarrel,” and secondly, speaking essentially, the answer must be reasoned, justified, indicating that the patient’s claim was really subject to consideration. In the future, a situation may arise that when a patient goes to court, the latter will be able to easily prove that his legal demands were not satisfied by the medical organization, that a refusal was received from it even without appropriate consideration of the claim, which may in turn lead to the imposition of a penalty by the court. The response to the patient’s claim must be medically substantiated; for this purpose, the legislator assigned this function to the medical commission of the medical organization. We must also not forget about the need to maintain the patient’s medical confidentiality, evaluate the possibility of providing an answer not to the patient himself, but to his representatives or other persons, and the possibility of attracting independent experts to consider the claim. In the future, these violations on the part of the medical organization may lead to additional grounds for a serious complaint on the part of the patient.

Algorithm for handling patient complaints and claims

To work with citizens’ requests, you can create a certain universal algorithm:

1) During the consideration of the claim, it is necessary to study in detail the patient’s requirements, medical documentation, and determine exactly what medical care was provided to the patient. It is important to remember that medical documentation is virtually the only source of evidence in medical cases. Therefore, it must be conducted very carefully.
2) It is necessary to obtain explanatory notes from the employees of the medical organization who interacted with the patient. The conflict situation should be reflected as fully as possible in the documents.
3) Conduct a review of the complaint at a meeting of the medical commission.
4) Compose a written response to the patient to his complaint.
5) Provide for personal communication between the administration of the medical organization and the patient. Open dialogue in most cases helps resolve conflict.

Next, we can talk about the algorithm for considering different types of complaints. As practice shows, the most serious claims relate directly to medical problems, these are the so-called “medical claims”.