New Survey Says Mounting Medical Malpractice Costs In PA. Affect Doctors’ Decisions To Stay In State
A new survey published this month in "Obstetrics and Gynecology", indicates that the high cost of medical malpractice insurance is a major reason why the medical residents surveyed plan to leave Pennsylvania upon completing their training.
Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) July 7, 2005 -— The high cost of medical malpractice insurance is a leading reason cited by new
doctors for leaving Pennsylvania when their training is finished, according to a
new survey. More than three-quarters of the medical residents surveyed said they
planned to leave Pennsylvania, and almost half of those doctors said the cost of
liability insurance was the reason for their departure.
Resident
physicians in high-risk fields such as general surgery and emergency medicine
named medical malpractice costs as the reason for leaving the state three times
more often than any other factor. It outranked concerns such as quality of life,
living near their families and salary. The survey, part of the Project on Medical Liability in
Pennsylvania funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, was published this month
in "Obstetrics and Gynecology."
"I'm leaving Pennsylvania the second my
residency is finished," one resident said. "Why in the world would anyone want
to practice in this state?" Another resident wrote in the survey, "I am very
concerned about not being able to refer patients to sub-specialists in the state
(neurosurgery, orthopedics). For the first time I am considering leaving the
state, and moving my family, to Maryland, Virginia, or a nearby state because of
malpractice issues. Why stay here for lower salaries and higher
risk?"
Few previous studies have examined how the cost of medical liability insurance is affecting the plans of today's
medical residents training for high-risk specialties. This study looked at the
attitudes of doctors in the final or next-to-last year of their residencies as
they were making career decisions.
The statewide mail survey gathered
responses from 360 residents nearing the end of their training in
anesthesiology, emergency medicine, general surgery, obstetrics, orthopedics,
and radiology—specialties that are among those affected most by rising liability
costs and pressures. The researchers also surveyed directors of 68 Pennsylvania
residency programs in those specialties. The survey, by Michelle M. Mello,
Associate Professor of Health Policy and Law at Harvard University's School of
Public Health, and Carly N. Kelly, an attorney, found that malpractice insurance
premiums were making young doctors leery of joining or starting practices in Pennsylvania.
The respondents answered the survey in
2003; the adjusted response rate was 83% for program directors and 49% for
residents. About 26% of the respondents were residents in emergency medicine,
19% in general surgery, 17% in anesthesiology, 15% in radiology, 12% in
orthopedics and 11% in obstetrics and gynecology. About a quarter of the
residents grew up in Pennsylvania and 34% attended medical school in the
state.
One in three residents said they would leave the state after
completing their residency because of the lack of affordable medical malpractice insurance. Residency program directors
reported that the proportion of young doctors in their training programs
planning to leave the state had increased dramatically since 1999. Seventy-one
percent of program directors said they had seen a decrease in residents willing
to stay in Pennsylvania compared to three to five years ago, when malpractice
insurance costs in the state started to rise. Directors also said residents are
more concerned about professional liability today than they were three to five
years ago, with 53% describing their current residents as very concerned about
malpractice and 40% as somewhat concerned.
"Everything about Pennsylvania
other than the state of malpractice and litigation would encourage me to stay
and practice here," wrote one resident. "I like Pennsylvania, but it's not worth
it."
Mello and Kelly conclude: "An environment of mounting liability
costs in Pennsylvania appears to dissuade substantial numbers of residents
training in high-risk specialties from remaining in the state to practice after
residency." Pennsylvania ranks 41st out of 50 states in the percentage of
physicians under the age of 35, according to data compiled by the Pennsylvania
Medical Society in 2003. In 1985, it ranked 16th. A shrinking supply of young
doctors may have long-term implications for the availability of specialist care
in the state, Mello said.
Much stronger language was used by some of
those surveyed. "I wish I had never come to Philadelphia, 'City of the
Lawsuit,'" one resident wrote. "I cannot believe I have dedicated my entire life
to medicine just to be sued twice during my residency. I warn all students that
I meet not to become a doctor, not to go into surgery, and above all, not to go
to Philadelphia."
The full report is available at http://medliabilitypa.org
About the Project on Medical
Liability in Pennsylvania
The Project on Medical Liability
in Pennsylvania provides Pennsylvania policy makers with objective
information about the medical liability system; broadens participation in the
medical liability debate to include new constituencies and perspectives; and
focuses attention on the relationship between medical liability and the overall
health and prosperity of the Commonwealth. The Project is working with leading
health policy experts from across the nation and will continue to publish both
original research based on new data and expert analyses. The Project will
generate information from a broad range of perspectives, without promoting the
agenda of any of the stakeholders in the debate.
About the Pew Charitable
Trusts
The Pew Charitable Trusts serves the public interest by
providing information, policy solutions and support for civic life. Based in
Philadelphia, with an office in Washington, D.C., the Trusts will invest $177
million in fiscal year 2005 to provide organizations and citizens with
fact-based research and practical solutions for challenging issues.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/7/prweb259084.htm