The Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, issued a report in favor of reforming medical malpractice policies to protect physicians.
The report, authored by CAP researcher Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, PhD, Topher Spiro and Maura Calsyn, states more than three in four physicians face a malpractice claim during their career, averaging $17,130 in litigation costs. Physicians spend an average of 11 percent of their career facing an unresolved malpractice claim, and 70 percent of that time results in no paid settlements. The problem is particularly bad for obstetricians, gynecologists and neurosurgeons, according to the report.
The realities of malpractice claims promote defensive medicine among 80 to 90 percent of physicians, which may run counter to the type of lower-cost, efficient care aimed for by health reform and new payer contracts. Physicians sued for malpractice within the past five years were much more likely to order defensive imaging tests, unhindered by a physicians' length of service, according to the report.
Since Congressional Budget Office estimates put the savings potential of capping malpractice damages at just 0.5 percent of nationwide healthcare spending, the CAP argues instead for "safe harbor" policies for physicians who:
1. Document adherence to evidence-based guidelines.
2. Use qualified health information systems.
3. Use clinical decision-support systems to determine patient diagnoses and treatments.
Using these criteria to show a physician has met legal standards of care is better standardized and more reliable that local customary practices of care, according to the report. Similarly, adopting nationally utilized guidelines regarding tests and procedures can cut back on wasteful use of healthcare services and discourage physicians from ordering unnecessary tests as defensive precautions.
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