News in brief - Feb. 16, 2004

Cost of liability claims keeps rising - Court: Fla. doctor did not violate clinic act - Most pediatric residents happy with training - Minn. doctors seek input on patient safety - Wis. living organ donors will get tax break

Cost of liability claims keeps rising

Physician and hospital liability insurance premiums will continue to increase in 2004 because the average cost per claim continues to rise, according to a study from Aon Risk Services.

Based on the study's look at 3,000 physician liability claims and more than 38,000 hospital liability claims, Aon predicts that the claim rate will rise by 9.7% this year. The average physician liability claim is expected to be $178,000 in 2004.

"This study speaks to the underlying frequency and severity trends that are driving these premiums," said Greg Larcher, assistant director and actuary for Aon Actuarial and Analytics Practice. "The results of this study show that claims activity is a significant contributor to the recent increases in market premiums."

The fourth annual study, "Hospital Professional Liability and Physician Liability Benchmark Study," is touted as the largest of its kind. In the previous three years, the study found that claim costs had grown at about 10% annually.

Court: Fla. doctor did not violate clinic act

A federal appeals court in late January dismissed a lawsuit against a Florida physician in which a patient claimed that the doctor violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act when he restrained her from leaving during an abortion that had complications.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled that there is no evidence that the physician had violated the act, which prohibits using force to injure, intimidate or interfere with a woman to prevent her from obtaining reproductive health services or because she has obtained services.

"[The patient] offered no evidence that [the physician's] motivation was to prevent her from obtaining reproductive health services," the three-judge panel said in its opinion. "In contrast, during his deposition [the physician] explained that a doctor cannot obey a woman's demand that the abortion be stopped at just any time, because she might risk death if he did so."

Most pediatric residents happy with training

Two-thirds of pediatric residents in 36 institutions studied report that they are satisfied with their required pediatric primary care training.

Satisfaction was found to be closely tied to the resident's preceptor, or mentor, and as a result, those who feel they have good mentors tend to be more satisfied with their training experience, according to a study published in the January/February issue of Ambulatory Pediatrics.

"This information emphasizes the importance of preceptor selection and the value of soliciting preceptors who already have been identified by residents as good teachers as well as those who want to be good teachers," said Janet Serwint, MD, the study's lead author and a pediatrician at Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

"Overall, the findings of this study are critical to residency programs facing fiscal constraints and reduction in residency training hours in the coming years," she said. "Hopefully this information can help residency programs identify and prioritize components of the continuity experience while striving to maintain and improve educational experiences."

Minn. doctors seek input on patient safety

The Minnesota Medical Assn. is asking physicians to share patient safety strategies or techniques used to reduce the possibility of error in their practices, clinics or hospitals.

Physician responses might be included in two projects aimed to foster discussion about patient safety --one led by Minnesota Medicine and the other by the Minnesota Alliance for Patient Safety, of which the MMA is a founding member.

Any of the submitted patient safety programs could be included in future articles in Minnesota Medicine. To share your experiences, e-mail the MMA (dhyland@mnmed.org).

The alliance is hoping to highlight similar programs that involve patients and their families. The effort is part of the group's "Patient as Partners" initiative, which aims to improve patient safety by engaging patients and their families. The group invites anyone who has an initiative that includes engaging patients and their families to e-mail the MMA (lholmgren@mnmed.org). For more information about patient safety, visit the MMA Advocacy News Patient Safety section (www.mmaonline.net/advocacynews).

Wis. living organ donors will get tax break

Living organ donors in Wisconsin will now be able to deduct up to $10,000 for donation-related expenses thanks to a new law signed by Gov. Jim Doyle on Jan. 30.

The law allows for a one-time deduction for Wisconsin residents donating a kidney, lung, bone marrow, or part of the liver, pancreas or intestine, and is limited to travel expenses, lodging and wages lost as a result of the donation.

"This legislation will make it easier for donors to bear the financial costs of a transplant," Doyle said in a press release. "Most important, it will save lives by helping make organs and tissue available to those who need transplants to survive and enjoy life."

Doyle signed the bill into law while surrounded by living-organ donors, transplant recipients and transplant surgeons and staff during a ceremony at St. Luke's Medical Center in Milwaukee.