Emergency Medicine - Medical Malpractice Insurance
Due to the nature of its practice, emergency medicine is considered a high-risk specialty. Patient encounters are short, cases are diverse and unpredictable and physicians have no chance to establish a consistent relationship with patients. These factors and others lead to a high rate of lawsuits filed against emergency medicine physicians. Medical malpractice insurers are aware of this and charge relatively high premiums for the specialty. Premiums vary widely based on the state and other details of the practice. Premiums are highest in litigious states like Florida and New York, and much lower in states with less hostile legal climates like Texas or Minnesota. High malpractice insurance premiums are driving many physicians out of emergency medicine, and the possibility of a shortage is a serious issue. Research suggests that tort reform legislation may be able to prevent such a shortage. (1)
A study published in The Journal of Emergency Medicine, a prominent journal in the specialty, examined medical malpractice cases in emergency medicine in Illinois and found that the average indemnity in a case was more than $200,000, and that cases that involved patients less than one year old took the longest to resolve and paid the most indemnity to successful plaintiffs. (1)
Emergency medicine is the primary forum for the debate about defensive medicine, the name given to the trend towards physicians ordering unnecessary tests or performing unnecessary procedures because of the fear of being sued. This trend increases healthcare costs to consumers and creates inefficiency in the system. There is also a "snowball effect" to defensive medicine. As doctors perform more procedures and order more tests, this increased level of vigilance becomes the accepted standard of care in malpractice courts, and physicians have even more cause to fear a malpractice suit. Emergency medicine physicians are particularly vexed by the dilemma of defensive medicine, since they have no ongoing relationship with their patients and often feel that they must test extensively and be sure to miss nothing because they are not sure if patients will heed follow-up instructions. (2)
Emergency medicine physicians have good reason to fear a lawsuit based on a missed or mistaken diagnosis, as data suggest that this is the most common origin of lawsuits against doctors in the specialty. These suits most commonly involve chest pain, abdominal pain, fractures and a few other areas of emergency medicine practice. (3)
If emergency physicians are concerned about the high cost of malpractice insurance, they should support the efforts of their professional societies to advance tort reform measures. The American College of Emergency Physicians, a leading specialty organization, maintains a medical liability reform position statement that recommends reforms that include limits on non-economic damages, joint liability, structured payment systems, reduced statutes of limitations, limits on attorney contingency fees, stricter qualifications on expert witnesses, greater protection of physicians' apologies, recognition of local standards of care and greater support of pilot programs. (4) Visit the ACEP website to learn how to get involved in the effort to enact tort reform.
We at MyMedicalMalpracticeInsurance.com understand that most doctors are too busy to deal with their medical malpractice insurance coverage. We do however know how important it is for physicians to have the right policy that fits what you are doing on a daily basis. This is why it's critical that MD's and DO's choose a broker that not only has access to every insurance company in the state, so they can compete for your business. They also need to choose someone that they can trust. We have helped thousands of physicians lower their medical malpractice insurance costs, and we want to do the same for you. We like to know how we're doing, so we always ask our clients, if they have time, to give us some feedback. Please take a look at what other physicians have to say about our brokers and our service. We are the best in the business because we are true physician advocates.
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