Med Mal News

Study Finds Some Health Care Providers Improved, Most Did Not

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), a non-profit organization whose mission it is to improve health care quality, claims in its annual report released this past fall that while the quality of care delivered by health care plans that publicly report their performance improved last year, the U.S. health care system as a whole continues to experience gaps in quality that lead to nearly 80,000 avoidable deaths each year. Five hundred and sixty three health plans covering about 69 million patients reported their performances. Overall, they showed significant improvements on several key measures, such as controlling high blood pressure and maintaining proper cholesterol levels of patients with diabetes. HMOs and point-of-service plans are the only ones that routinely report their performance. Other types of plans (which cover more than half the nation's patients) do not. It is these plans, the NCQA report says, that more often than necessary give patients substandard treatment that can lead to illness or death.

The report points to hospital pay-for-performance initiatives as being one important way to improve the delivery of optimum health care services. Without such systems, NCQA asserts, hospitals and physicians have disincentives for providing the best care because payment is often based on the amount of care provided, not its quality; health care professionals are better compensated if they have sick patients who remain sick for longer periods.

Florida Voters Crack Down on Docs and Attorneys

Florida's voters passed three malpractice-related proposals to change the state's constitution. One amendment with potentially far-reaching consequences calls for physicians to automatically lose their licenses after receiving three unfavorable judgments in malpractice lawsuits. Settlements will be excluded from consideration, which could force many doctors to settle out of court in order not to lose their licenses to practice. Still others may see this change as a persuasive reason to leave the state, which has been plagued by more malpractice insurance issues than most of the other states in the union. The measure won't take effect immediately but will wait for legislative direction on how it will be implemented.

A second amendment allows patients to look at the safety records of their physicians. The third constitutional amendment limits the percentage of malpractice awards attorneys can receive as compensation to 30% of the first $250,000 and 10% of damages in excess of that amount. This measure, supported by the State's doctors, is meant to discourage attorneys from taking on some cases.

Nevada Passes Some Med-Mal Reforms, But Not Others

Nevada's voters passed ballot Question 3, a measure that eliminated the former exception for medical malpractice cases to the $350,000 state cap on noneconomic damages. The new measure also eliminates joint-and-several liability in malpractice cases, so that defendants now may be held financially responsible only for that percentage of harm attributable to them. In addition, it caps attorney fees and allows juries to be told what plaintiffs' incomes are.

The state's voters shot down Question 4, however, which had the support of attorneys. That measure would have required a decrease in medical malpractice premium rates but would have coupled that with the threat that if rates didn't decrease by 10% within the first year, the state cap on noneconomic damages in malpractice suits would be eliminated. Question 5, which would have fined attorneys for filing frivolous malpractice suits, also failed to pass.

Study Finds Some Health Care Providers Improved, Most Did Not

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), a non-profit organization whose mission it is to improve health care quality, claims in its annual report released this past fall that while the quality of care delivered by health care plans that publicly report their performance improved last year, the U.S. health care system as a whole continues to experience gaps in quality that lead to nearly 80,000 avoidable deaths each year. Five hundred and sixty three health plans covering about 69 million patients reported their performances. Overall, they showed significant improvements on several key measures, such as controlling high blood pressure and maintaining proper cholesterol levels of patients with diabetes. HMOs and point-of-service plans are the only ones that routinely report their performance. Other types of plans (which cover more than half the nation's patients) do not. It is these plans, the NCQA report says, that more often than necessary give patients substandard treatment that can lead to illness or death.

The report points to hospital pay-for-performance initiatives as being one important way to improve the delivery of optimum health care services. Without such systems, NCQA asserts, hospitals and physicians have disincentives for providing the best care because payment is often based on the amount of care provided, not its quality; health care professionals are better compensated if they have sick patients who remain sick for longer periods.

Florida Voters Crack Down on Docs and Attorneys

Florida's voters passed three malpractice-related proposals to change the state's constitution. One amendment with potentially far-reaching consequences calls for physicians to automatically lose their licenses after receiving three unfavorable judgments in malpractice lawsuits. Settlements will be excluded from consideration, which could force many doctors to settle out of court in order not to lose their licenses to practice. Still others may see this change as a persuasive reason to leave the state, which has been plagued by more malpractice insurance issues than most of the other states in the union. The measure won't take effect immediately but will wait for legislative direction on how it will be implemented.

A second amendment allows patients to look at the safety records of their physicians. The third constitutional amendment limits the percentage of malpractice awards attorneys can receive as compensation to 30% of the first $250,000 and 10% of damages in excess of that amount. This measure, supported by the State's doctors, is meant to discourage attorneys from taking on some cases.