Third in a series of five articles on the 2011 MMS Physician Workforce Study Our 10th annual workforce study suggests that while medical malpractice insurance costs in Massachusetts tend to be higher than national averages, the fear of being sued has a much more dramatic impact on physicians than the actual cost of the insurance. [...]

Filed under: Malpractice, medical liability reform, workforce | No Comments »

Spirited debate at the MMS House of Delegates Saturday led to the adoption of 18 principles on health care reform that the Society plans to share with local and national legislators. The principle that dominated deliberations asserted that “health care reform must enable patient choice in access to physicians, hospitals, and other services while recognizing [...]

Filed under: Accountable Care Organizations, Annual Meeting 2011, Defensive medicine, Global Payments, Health Policy, Health Reform, Malpractice, Payment Reform, medical liability reform | No Comments »

The Boston Globe took a more national perspective, and the Boston Herald pointed to Governor Deval Patrick’s bill for health care cost containment, but the message from both Boston newspapers was the same:  the current system of medical liability needs to be reformed. Both papers stated their support for such reform in their lead editorials [...]

Filed under: Defensive medicine, Malpractice, Uncategorized, medical liability reform | 1 Comment »

The new Congress is already making headlines, including the fact that several members have introduced comprehensive proposals to dramatically reform the nation’s medical liability system. I’m pleased to see this development, because we have long argued that our toxic medical liability system is badly in need of reform. It turns patients and doctors into adversaries, [...]

Filed under: Malpractice, medical liability reform | 2 Comments »