A new study reveals half of all graduating medical residents or fellows who received training in Illinois plan to leave the state and practice elsewhere, an exodus linked to the state’s “toxic” malpractice environment, according to a Northwestern University news release.
The survey found nearly 70 percent of those who planned to depart said two factors (the state’s high medical malpractice insurance premiums and Illinois Supreme Court’s recent decision to remove caps on damages for medical lawsuits) played a role in their choice. Many planned to cross the state line and practice in Wisconsin or Indiana, where liability premiums are about a third to half of what they would pay in Illinois, according to an official cited in the release.
The study urges Illinois legislators to fight for medical malpractice tort reform, particularly as the healthcare workforce faces critical challenges such as the implementation of healthcare reform, aging Baby Boomers and a shortage of general internal physicians.
Other states facing primary care physician shortages include Idaho, Mississippi, Nevada, Texas and Utah, according to National Center for Policy Analysis report.
The survey was led by researchers from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and funded by the Illinois Hospital Association and Illinois State Medical Society.
Read the Northwestern release about the 2010 Illinois New Physician Workforce Study.
Read more about Illinois hospitals:
-Chicago Hospitals Partnering With Community Health Centers to Repair Financial Losses
-Chicago's Delnor and Central DuPage Hospitals Talk Merger
-Illinois Regulators Approve Sale of Two Resurrection Hospitals to For-Profit Vanguard
The survey found nearly 70 percent of those who planned to depart said two factors (the state’s high medical malpractice insurance premiums and Illinois Supreme Court’s recent decision to remove caps on damages for medical lawsuits) played a role in their choice. Many planned to cross the state line and practice in Wisconsin or Indiana, where liability premiums are about a third to half of what they would pay in Illinois, according to an official cited in the release.
The study urges Illinois legislators to fight for medical malpractice tort reform, particularly as the healthcare workforce faces critical challenges such as the implementation of healthcare reform, aging Baby Boomers and a shortage of general internal physicians.
Other states facing primary care physician shortages include Idaho, Mississippi, Nevada, Texas and Utah, according to National Center for Policy Analysis report.
The survey was led by researchers from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and funded by the Illinois Hospital Association and Illinois State Medical Society.
Read the Northwestern release about the 2010 Illinois New Physician Workforce Study.
Read more about Illinois hospitals:
-Chicago Hospitals Partnering With Community Health Centers to Repair Financial Losses
-Chicago's Delnor and Central DuPage Hospitals Talk Merger
-Illinois Regulators Approve Sale of Two Resurrection Hospitals to For-Profit Vanguard