Many barriers exist to implementing approaches to medical liability that could serve as alternatives to federal tort reform, a series of studies funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) found. Physicians can be hesitant to admit medical errors and misdiagnosis; insurers are leery of supporting early notification of errors; and barriers are created by existing state malpractice laws, according to research published as a series in Monday's Health Affairs (Pittman, 1/6).
PBS NewsHour: Could Malpractice Reform Save The U.S. Health Care System?
It's a scenario most people have considered at least once. Patient A is hoisted onto Dr. B's operating table. Knife slips and causes massive injury -- and unlimited pain and suffering -- to Mr. A. Should the resulting monetary compensation be unlimited, as well? ... An essay published Monday in the journal Health Affairs argues that it might be time for the government to step in. More specifically, lead author Dr. William Sage proposes that doctors and the federal government should strike a deal (Corapi, 1/6).
This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
