News: Medical Malpractice Insurance and Physician Practices

Side Note: this article highlights the results of a study that examined expert witnesses in medical malpractice cases.  The researchers found that an expert witness in a lawsuit against a radiologist testified that the original doctor should have recognized a fracture in a CT scan, but 31 out of 31 other radiologists who examined the [...]

Side Note: this article from The Hill reports on a bill currently in Congress, aimed at subsidizing malpractice insurance costs for physicians volunteering at community health centers.  Currently, the high liability insurance cost of volunteering makes it essentially impossible for most physicians to volunteer, though many would like to.  This bill would allow physicians to [...]

Side Note: this article from the Wall Street Journal details a new pilot program in New York aimed at stabilizing that state’s volatile malpractice climate.  The program is funded by a $3 million grant, a part of Obama’s health care reform package.  The central feature of the pilot program is mediation of malpractice cases by [...]

Side Note: The Wisconsin Supreme Court has found that the state must repay $200M that it took out of the state patient compensation fund for malpractice.  This is a victory for the Wisconsin Medical Association, and for health care consumers in Wisconsin.  A solvent patient compensation fund keeps medical malpractice insurance premiums stable, and in [...]

Side Note: ISMIE is the largest malpractice insurer in Illinois, and the Cunningham Group is pleased to see that its rates have held steady.  However, we share Dr. Jensen’s apprehension, considering that the results of the Illinois Supreme Court ruling early this year have yet to be seen.  Physicians who want to be sure that malpractice [...]

side note: this Wall Street Journal interview with a Case Western law professor addresses the trend toward electronic medical records and its effect on medical malpractice.  The professor sees several problems with EMR’s, noting that computers can cause errors with bugs or shutdowns and that entering data into computers impedes on physicians already squeezed schedule.  On the whole, [...]

Side Note: After three years without an increase, New York malpractice insurance rates have been increased an average of 5% this year.  Though this is a manageable increase, New York is still a hostile legal climate for doctors.  New York physicians should advocate for tort reform in their state, so that premiums do not increase more.
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side note: This article from the Associated Press discusses the results of a new survey from the American Medical Association.  The survey showed that 90% of American physicians acknowledge that fear of malpractice lawsuits leads to unnecessary testing, building on earlier results we covered several weeks ago.  The survey’s result is convincing, as the large [...]