PROFESSIONAL ISSUES

Illinois hospital, staff go to court in fight over liability coverage

The case is one of several in the country asking courts to decide how much weight medical staff bylaws carry.

By Tanya Albert, AMNews staff. Nov. 8, 2004.

Liability insurance woes and a disagreement over whether medical staff bylaws or hospital rules take precedence are clashing in one Illinois community where physicians are struggling to pay premiums.

The disagreement has forced doctors to turn to the court to try to stay in business.

Physicians in Danville, Ill., a community about two hours south of Chicago, say their medical staff bylaws at Provena United Samaritans Medical Center require that they carry medical liability insurance with limits of $200,000 per incident and $600,000 aggregate annually. The hospital about 10 years ago changed its policy to require doctors to carry a $1 million/$3 million policy.

Although hospital administrators asked medical staff members to amend their bylaws to the higher requirement, the medical staff never did.

"We didn't know what the future held," Danville cardiologist Joseph Fabrizio, MD, said.

The future is now, and carrying the lower limit, less expensive policy would be a way to keep about eight physicians on the 100-member medical staff in practice, doctors said.

A handful of doctors say they can afford the $200,000/$600,000 policy, but that the $1 million/$3 million would force them to cut back services, retire early or move out of state.

"It's sad that we're in this crazy predicament," Dr. Fabrizio said. "We'd all love to carry $2 million/$6 million policies, but it's just not affordable. This malpractice crisis is a financial burden and disruptive."

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