[Calavar]

I'm in the US. Part of my hospital's workflow for a deceased patient is calling their GP's office to notify them of the death. As far as I am aware, this is mandated by state law. If a patient is discharged, a summary of their hospital course is faxed to their GP's office at the time of discharge. Or transmitted electronically, if possible.

[eszed]

What is the GP expected to do with that? Does the doctor (ideally) review case notes and their own interventions? Or does the office staff close the patient's file - without necessarily even telling the doctor "Mr So-and-so passed away", unless it happens to come up in conversation?

Genuine question, and I can see totally valid reasons for each course of action.

[Calavar]

It's up to them what they do with the information. Ideally the doctor would take the opportunity review the patient's chart, but I'm sure there are some clinics that just close the file and call it a day.

The feedback loop tends to be stronger on the inpatient side. In academic settings, it's common for each department to have a "morbidity and mortality" conference once or twice a month. This is a meeting where one or two physicians will present a case that they think went poorly and the rest of the physicians in attendance will give feedback on what could have been done differently.