When you are a patient in a hospital, they owe you a certain duty of care. So do the doctors, nurses, and other staff members who are employed by them. If you were harmed by medical negligence while you were in the hospital’s care, the first thing you’ll need to do before filing a lawsuit is determine whether or not the hospital is the negligent party.

Although a member of the staff may have made the mistake that injured you, the hospital may not have been negligent. Before your attorney can determine this, the following questions must be answered.

• Is the doctor who made the mistake an independent contractor or a hospital employee? Most doctors are independent contractors and not employees. In these cases, you must negotiate with the physician’s own insurance carrier.
• Did the hospital create the protocol that led to your injury? The doctor or other staff member may have been following the hospital’s policies when you were injured. If a doctor deviated from the hospital’s protocol, you may need to sue the doctor.
• If another staff member caused your injury, are they members of the hospital’s staff or independent contractors? If this is the case, your negligence lawsuit should be filed against the hospital. Techs and nurses do not typically carry their own insurance.

In some cases the doctor who caused your injury may have been miscategorized as an independent contractor when they were being treated like an employee. Some examples of this would be a hospital assigning a doctor to work certain hours or telling the doctor they must charge certain fees. In these cases, the hospital would be responsible for the negligence.

3 Ways Hospitals Can Be Medically Negligent

When a patient is injured by a hospital’s staff member while they are performing their job duties, the hospital is liable under vicarious liability. This is a legal principle that holds one party accountable for someone else’s actions against another party. The hospital’s employee may also be liable for their mistake, but that doesn’t let the hospital off the hook.

These are three ways hospitals can be negligent in their practices. If any of these circumstances apply to you, you may need to consult with a medical negligence lawyer.

Negligent Hiring

A hospital’s employees are often literally responsible for their patients’ health, safety, and lives, so states and the federal government have screening procedures in place that they must adhere to. If employees aren’t adequately screened during the hiring process or they don’t have proper training, people can be hurt or even killed.

Hospitals that fail to properly screen employees can be held legally liable for negligent hiring. This can happen if they fail to conduct background screenings. These screenings could uncover important information like employment candidates who have committed crimes against patients or been the subject of disciplinary actions in the past.

Negligent Supervision

Patients who are severely ill or injured can have trouble with balance and coordination due to muscle weakness, the effects of medication, and other factors. Hospitals need to make sure their patients are properly supervised at all times so they don’t sustain injuries.

In addition to this, hospital employees can also have inadequate supervision. This can lead to medication mistakes, hospital-acquired infections, and the development of pressure ulcers. Patients who are harmed because they or hospital staff weren’t adequately supervised have the right to file a lawsuit.

Negligent Retention

Negligent retention happens when a hospital should have let an employee go for past negligence, but instead they allowed them to continue placing patients at risk. If patients are complaining that a staff member is not competent but the hospital isn’t listening, they may be legally liable.

Hospitals have a duty to regularly review their employees and to take action when something is wrong. Failing to do so is an invitation to a medical negligence lawsuit against the institution.

Patients trust hospitals, doctors, and other healthcare workers because they know they are held to high standards. The only way hospitals can continue to earn this trust is to make sure they place the patients’ well-being first. If a hospital has caused harm to a patient, they must be held accountable.