State high court halts new way to bring liability lawsuits
The Kentucky Supreme Court has knocked down an attempt to allow hospitals to be sued for negligent credentialing.
In a 6-0 decision, justices rejected a new cause of legal action that would make hospitals in the commonwealth liable for negligence in credentialing independent contractor physicians with staff privileges who may later be named in a liability claim. Critics of the legal maneuver, which is a plaintiff patient's option in some states, say that it is both unnecessary and would cause problems—including creating a serious access obstacle by leaving patients with fewer options to receive care.
Had the court upheld the 2-to-1 appeals court ruling establishing the cause of action, "it would make it more difficult for physicians to be able to be credentialed by hospitals, and then potentially health plans and others, at a time that—especially health plans—are looking to narrow their networks, and it would just give them another reason to do so," said Patrick T. Padgett, Executive Vice President of the Kentucky Medical Association. For patients, those more restricted networks, "would limit their choices and it would limit their ability to see a physician, so it would be an access- to- care issue."
The KMA filed a 14-page, friend-of-the-court brief in the case. Financial assistance for the amicus brief was provided by the Litigation Center of the American Medical Association and State Medical Societies, which supports those state societies in precedent-setting cases relevant to physicians.
Read more at AMA Wire.
