PROFESSIONNews in brief - April 7, 2008Oregon keeps wrongful death damage cap - Public favors quality reporting but uncertain about pay-for-performance Oregon keeps wrongful death damage capOregon physicians say that a state Supreme Court decision upholding the noneconomic damage cap in wrongful death cases will help to preserve some stability in the state's medical liability climate. The high court on Feb. 22 ruled that the $500,000 award limit in wrongful death actions does not violate plaintiffs' right to a jury trial or access to a legal remedy. Physicians had feared that a spike in such case filings and higher medical liability premiums would have ensued if the court had rejected the cap. The Oregon Medical Assn. and the American Medical Association/State Medical Societies Litigation Center filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, urging the Supreme Court to keep the damage cap. Justices in 1999 struck down the state's pain-and-suffering award limit in personal-injury cases as unconstitutional. Public favors quality reporting but uncertain about pay-for-performanceMost patients believe the quality of care physicians and hospitals provide can be fairly graded, but only about a third of patients say such ratings should be used to determine pay, according to a survey. A February Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive poll of 2,015 adults found that six in 10 patients said "there are fair and reliable ways" of measuring and comparing medical groups and hospitals on quality. That figure was up from 49% in 2006. A majority of respondents said that patient-satisfaction surveys, medical board and quality group assessments, and measuring the use of preventive screening tests and chronic condition management were fair methods to compare performance. Less than half said use of electronic medical records or malpractice suits filed are fair game for quality reporting. Only 38% of respondents favored paying more to medical groups and hospitals that score better on quality metrics and paying less to those that fare poorly, while 15% opposed the idea and 47% said they were unsure. Copyright 2008 American Medical Association. All rights reserved. |
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