One of the reasons that the costs of medical care continue to escalate is the litigious society we live in. Physicians, leery of the litigious patient, must practice medicine in a defensive manner. Oftentimes, they must prescribe medications or order expensive tests to cover all bases. These expensive routine workups are a primary reason why hospital bills can be so expensive.

For example, the patient who complains of chest pain while in the hospital for some other minor reason will typically get a battery of tests such as an electrocardiogram, cardiac enzymes, electrolytes, pulse oximetry, and a chest x-ray even if he or she does clinically look like he is having a heart attack. If the physician fails to do all these things and the patient does indeed have a heart attack, the physician may be on the hook for that event.

Thus in such a litigious environment, every physician should obtain malpractice insurance. In many specialties, such as obstetrics, these costs can be prohibitively expensive in certain states, driving physicians out of those states. However, some states, such as Texas, have addressed tort reform. Texas has enacted a law several years ago that caps noneconomic damages at $250,000. This sort of policy limits liability for the physician and drives down the cost of malpractice insurance significantly. It is interesting to note that since the law went into effect, the number of physicians applying for medical licenses in Texas has increased every year.

Tort reform and capping of damages obviously has the significant benefit of allowing physicians to practice medicine with limited liability. Thus, it is significantly pro-physician and is cost-effective. However, from the patient’s perspective, putting a number on a possible outcome from malpractice may not be palatable. After all, we live in a society where people can successfully sue others for millions of dollars from other types of accidents.

Thus, malpractice will continue to be an issue at the forefront of the health economic and policy debate. From my perspective, the medical industry is regulated in almost every other area. It might as well regulate malpractice and make the health economy more financially viable.

Related posts:

1. The Prohibitive Cost of Electronic Medical Records
2. The Utility of Physician Review Websites
3. Health Insurance: The Greatest Flaw in Our Healthcare System
4. Ancillary Services: Hey, Doctors Need to Make Money, Too
5. Digital Electronic Records and Storage: How Much Can You Save?