Liability and licensure hassles impede disaster response

The AMA and other groups seek a solution to protect doctors crossing state lines when responding to natural or manmade emergencies.

By Amy Lynn Sorrel, AMNews staff. July 3, 2006.

Family physician Alvin Jackson, MD, was ready to drive his "hospital on wheels," from Fremont, Ohio, to Bay St. Louis, Miss., after he got a call last September to assist with Hurricane Katrina disaster relief.

With two exam rooms, a mini-pharmacy and a refrigeration system, his mobile facility was just what the staff at Coastal Family Health Center in Bay St. Louis needed to help the storm's victims. Dr. Jackson and his staff, some of whom were going to travel with him, normally use the unit to serve migrant workers, so they had the expertise in operating in the field that is valuable in disaster relief.

But Dr. Jackson, who works at Fremont's Community Health Services, was delayed a crucial five days as he worked to get the federal government to maintain his medical liability coverage across state lines.

A similar issue slowed down Wendy Ring, MD, MPH, a family doctor and medical director for Mobile Medical Office based in Eureka, Calif. It was a two-week struggle to make sure she'd have the medical licensure necessary to practice in Texas, where she was traveling last September to help with the large number of hurricane evacuees.

As Dr. Jackson, Dr. Ring and many other physicians like them prepare for the next disaster to strike -- whether it be a hurricane, a terrorist attack or the next flu pandemic -- they want to make sure these critical delays don't happen again.

The two physicians are among about 8,000 doctors who work for 1,000 federally qualified health centers across the country. They receive funding and compensation under the Public Health Service Act for providing primary medical care to low-income, underserved populations. About 80% of the clinics have government-provided liability insurance offered under the Federal Tort Claims Act.