0:01

Vicarious liability,

0:02

as the slide tells us, is a legal doctor.

0:04

And that holds an employer responsible

0:06

for the negligent acts of an employee

0:09

that are within the scope of employment and control

0:12

and furtherance of the employer's business.

0:14

But don't get, don't get too hung up on the employer

0:18

employee aspect

0:19

because in these cases we almost never

0:21

have employers, employees.

0:23

We have a variety of different employment circumstances

0:27

that need to be kept in mind between physicians

0:30

who are independent, contractors who are working

0:32

for institutions, nurses who are part of the, may be part

0:36

of the radiologist practice, as opposed to employees

0:40

of the hospital, technologists who may be employees

0:44

of the hospital, or employees

0:46

of the independent contractor radiology services.

0:50

It goes from every person in the group.

0:53

Um, hospitals always love to advertise

0:55

that they take a team approach to everything.

0:57

We're all part of the same team.

1:00

Well, yeah, until things go wrong.

1:03

And then people are not necessarily part of the same team.

1:07

What vicarious liability has to do with is that relationship

1:11

between all the different members

1:13

who are treating the patient.

1:16

The, the term that's frequently used is respond

1:19

to its superior, or the superior has to respond to an act.

1:23

But it all involves the concept

1:26

and negligence of liability or duty.

1:30

What duty is owed to the patient under

1:34

a certain circumstance.

1:37

Most people don't accept this,

1:38

but the rule of law talks about processes

1:42

and procedures that are attempting to make fair

1:47

definitions and fair duty for people.

1:51

Vicarious liability is nothing more than an attempt

1:55

to define what would be a fair responsibility of the people

1:59

who are treating the patient.

2:01

And for the patient, it is always fact-based.

2:05

That may be somewhat frustrating to you

2:07

because you may be looking to me to,

2:09

to give you some bright lines.

2:12

And frequently the bright lines involving vicarious

2:15

liability that we'll discuss are in the facts.

2:19

And one fact can change whether someone is

2:22

vicariously liable or not.

2:25

I will say however, though, that the idea

2:27

of the independent contractor, which we all know how

2:32

hospitals are now full of independent contractors,

2:38

the term independent contractor will not protect you in

2:42

certain circumstances involving vicarious liability.

2:45

I think people may be too comforted by the fact

2:47

that they are independent contractors by way

2:51

of their relationship with the hospital,

2:54

but it's the team's relationship to the patient

2:57

that will really define

2:58

Vicarious liability.

3:00

There's something happening very common in your practices,

3:03

and that's having to do with venture capital firms acquiring

3:07

radiology practices and,

3:09

and many other practices as you know, um, the question

3:12

of whether the venture capital group is liable,

3:17

vicariously liable for the physicians.

3:21

Let's go back to our, our basic principles.

3:24

Is it fair for the investors who own that company,

3:28

who own the practice to be liable?

3:31

Do they control the practice?

3:34

What level of control do they have in the practice?

3:38

Or do they have contractual arrangements

3:40

as they frequently do that they do not have

3:44

clinical control and therefore are not liable?

3:47

They try to get themselves out of it with that.

3:49

So it has to do with control and li and liability,

3:52

and there is not a bright line

3:54

to say venture capital firms are gonna be part of this.

3:58

In fact, we have a case right now that's dealing with just

4:01

that issue and frankly, I don't think we're gonna get

4:04

to the venture capital group

4:06

because of how it was structured.

4:08

It's just another area of vicarious liability

4:11

that's being fleshed out.

4:14

Remember also, there's another concept that law

4:16

that talks about joint

4:17

and several liability where several people, two

4:21

or more people or groups combine to cause a harm.

4:26

How's liability distributed in those cases?

4:30

Each state has a different joint and several liability law.

4:36

For example, Pennsylvania changed their

4:38

law several years ago.

4:39

Any individual has to be at least 70% liable in order

4:42

to be joint and severally liable.

4:44

And what that means is in Delaware we have straight joint

4:47

and several liability,

4:48

which means if you're 1% liable in somebody else's,

4:51

99% liable, it really doesn't matter.

4:54

The the patient gets to be paid

4:56

by whoever has the most insurance, whoever can handle that.

5:00

So these, these kinds of joint

5:02

and several apparent authority, venture capital stuff,

5:06

it all depends on control and facts

5:09

and what kind of contracts are between the two groups.