FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:Health
Issues Brief
Medical Liability Crisis worsens;
Florida Hospital and others seek solutions
December 2002
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The medical liability insurance crisis in Florida has gone from bad to worse in the last 30 days, seriously threatening patient access to physician and hospital services. "This is not about patient inconvenience any longer," said Richard Morrison, Regional Vice President for Government and Community Relations at Florida Hospital. "Medical services that our community counts on, especially in an emergency, are simply not going to be available as they are today." "Women will not be able to get timely mammograms and Pap tests," he continued. "Some emergency rooms won’t have surgeons and other specialists to treat critically ill patients. People without insurance who already have problems finding care will be the most affected, but all of us will have a problem finding care in the near future." Divergent interests "We must find solutions that help patients, and not worry about protecting the interests of one professional group over another" said Morrison. "Obviously, the four parties involved – physicians, hospitals, insurance providers, and attorneys– have divergent interests," he noted. "Some physicians and hospitals don’t want increased oversight, insurance companies want to make a profit, and attorneys don’t want their incomes affected by caps on jury awards." "Much of the public believes it has a right to limitless awards for pain and suffering and are not aware of the domino effect of large jury awards on medical liability premiums," he continued. "And some people believe that doctors aren’t being held accountable for true malpractice – so they use punitive jury awards to send that message." "But these huge awards are infringing upon the right to healthcare – including emergency care," he added. Three-prong approach required for Medical Liability ReformBalancing these conflicting interests is the only way to bring stability and enhanced quality to the healthcare system, said Morrison. He believes that Medical Liability Reform must address three elements: physician and hospital accountability, tort reform, and insurance reform.
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Patient access to care threatened In the last 30 days,
Why are the
rates so high? Because physicians in Florida are sued twice as often
- even though their proven malpractice rates are the same as the rest
of the nation. |
Florida Hospital has developed short- and long-term recommendations for relief from the current and impending crises.
In the short term, Florida Hospital recommends:
To bring meaningful long-term change to the system, Florida Hospital recommends:
What’s next?
The Florida Legislature will wrestle with the Medical Liability Crisis during its 2003 session.
"It’s a complicated issue," said Morrison at a Healthcare Crisis Community Conversation hosted by the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College on December 17. "The legislature may need the wisdom of Solomon to balance the right to access to care and the access to courts, but we need action – soon."
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1. Medical Liability
Monitor |
10. American Medical
News, 12/3/01 |
This and other Florida Hospital Issues Briefs are published four to six times a year by the Government & Community Relations Department.
© Florida Hospital
Government & Community Relations, December 2002.
Revised 18-Jul-2007
This Health
Issues release is located on the Internet at: http://www.floridahospital.org/news/healthissues/
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