So you know how recently, I've been talking about being interested in Ob/Gyn? Well, here's a very good reason why, for now, one shouldn't step into the ring... From the American Medical Association: Outrageous liability rates are driving physicians from their practices, leaving patients vulnerable and the entire field of medicine in a state of turmoil. Physicians across the country are reporting massive hikes in their medical professional liability insurance (PLI): the average increase for 2001 was 15 percent, and it is predicted that rates could rise as much as 50 percent this year for specific specialties in some regions. The current system has resulted in a liability lottery, where select patients receive the highest care, and many others receive none at all. "Patients can't get care when doctors can't afford insurance," said AMA President Richard F. Corlin, MD. "There are too many patients whose physicians have been forced to discontinue high-risk procedures, leave their state and retire early because of out-of-control legal climates and skyrocketing liability premiums. Something must be done." Dr. Corlin pointed to the recent call by Texas physicians on local lawmakers for relief from skyrocketing medical liability insurance rates that have increased as much as 300 percent in some regions and for some specialties. To make matters worse, several carriers are abandoning the liability insurance business, leaving many remaining physicians with no coverage. More examples of the degenerating situation: - In 2001, eight states saw two or more liability insurers raise rates by at least 30 percent last year, according to an AMNews analysis. Neurosurgeons, obstetricians and other high-risk specialists were hit hardest - Manual malpractice rates have reached as high as $203,000 for some Florida ob/gyns and $134,000 for several Texas general surgeons. - Jury awards in medical liability cases increased 43 percent in 1999 alone, from $700,000 to $1,000,000, with an upswing in awards of $1 million or more. While medicine was able to cope with a similar crisis in 1970's, cost and availability of coverage have reemerged as critical sore spots as we enter the 21st century. According to a survey recently released by the Health Care Liability Alliance (HCLA), the majority of Americans support medical liability reform. "Liability reform is one of the AMA's top legislative priorities, and today's survey results show the vast majority of Americans support liability reform as well," said AMA Secretary-treasurer Donald J. Palmisano, MD. "An overwhelming 78 percent of Americans say they are concerned about the impact rising liability costs have on access to care, and 73 percent support a law that caps 'pain and suffering' awards." Legislators are beginning to realize that this is not just a physician issue, but a patient issue. A physician facing these insurance premiums is likely to practice defensively, order extra tests and use only procedures that limit risk. The AMA is stepping up to do something about the crisis, fighting for tort reform measures at both the state and federal levels, and working closely with past tort reform champions. The AMA is hopeful that, as efforts on this issue move forward, all interested parties can join together on achieving sensible medical liability reform. Here's what you can do: - Read continually updated PLI information from the AMA. - If you are a physician, voice your opinion on this issue. Visit the AMA in Washington Web site to get connected with your legislator. - If you are a patient, let your physician know how concerned you are about this issue, and that you support the AMA's efforts to cut back on the complex rules to ensure you get the care you need. Visit the AMA's Web site to learn more about the many ways the AMA is helping protect health care for you. (Link to the AMA >>) |
weekend update Good times this weekend. Friday night, our rotation group went out to celebrate the flurry of engagement-type activity, involving both Joe and myself, and also Jack, who in most dramatic and romantic fashion proposed to his girlfriend last weekend after whisking her away on a surprise weekend trip to Bermuda. (He fooled her all the way to the airport by telling her that they were going to visit her parents in Atlanta. So tricky!) I have to admit though, that after Jack told us all his engagement story, it felt a little anticlimactic to tell people our engagement story, consisting of proposal at the midtown Tapas restaurant over dessert. Not that it wasn't beautiful and special, but then Jack had to ruin it all with his whole Bermuda surprise thing. Goddammit, Jack, with a story like that, at least let me go first. Maybe Joe and I should make up some story. Pretend that the restaurant was really in Barcelona or something. Anyway, Joe unfortunately couldn't even be at the celebration at all, since it was kind of organized at the last minute, and no one really knew that he had been planning this weekend trip to San Francisco. But no matter. Jack's fiancée couldn't come out on Friday either, because she was on night float. Before we went downtown, Brendan had a bunch of us over and made tasty kebabs for us all in his imitation George Foreman grill. He really is the host with the most. Not only did he make all this food for us, but he refused to even start making his own dinner until we'd all had two kebabs each. Then we sat around and gossiped about our residents while listening to old TLC songs, in memory of Left Eye. (Though this rapidly disintegrated into an argument about the most attractive member of TLC. Some people thought T Boz, but they were wrong, since the correct answer is Chili. Duh.) Last night I went home to have dinner with my family, and we went to Kai, this ultra-chic new Japanese restaurant/tea parlor that just opened recently. It was pretty good. For the main course, I ordered the black cod cooked in a salt crust, mainly because I had watched too many episodes of Iron Chef and wanted to finally know what the salt crust was all about. (Warning: whatever you do, do not eat the salt crust, even though it looks like bread or cake. After the preparation of the fish, it's strictly ornamental. And salty.) The food itself was really good. Very small portions, but that's just my speed anyway. I finished everything on my plate and felt proud, like I was some big hearty eater for once. Joe just got back from the airport. I was worried, as usual, because it's really foggy tonight, but there were no problems flying in, apparently. Neurosurgery starts tomorrow. These little one-week surgical subspecialty rotations are just flying by, I tell you what. I still haven't decided what I want to do with my life, but further updates as events warrent. That's all for now. xo Michelle |
Sunday . April 28 . 2002 . 11:59pm |
weekend update Good times this weekend. Friday night, our rotation group went out to celebrate the flurry of engagement-type activity, involving both Joe and myself, and also Jack, who in most dramatic and romantic fashion proposed to his girlfriend last weekend after whisking her away on a surprise weekend trip to Bermuda. (He fooled her all the way to the airport by telling her that they were going to visit her parents in Atlanta. So tricky!) I have to admit though, that after Jack told us all his engagement story, it felt a little anticlimactic to tell people our engagement story, consisting of proposal at the midtown Tapas restaurant over dessert. Not that it wasn't beautiful and special, but then Jack had to ruin it all with his whole Bermuda surprise thing. Goddammit, Jack, with a story like that, at least let me go first. Maybe Joe and I should make up some story. Pretend that the restaurant was really in Barcelona or something. Anyway, Joe unfortunately couldn't even be at the celebration at all, since it was kind of organized at the last minute, and no one really knew that he had been planning this weekend trip to San Francisco. But no matter. Jack's fiancée couldn't come out on Friday either, because she was on night float. Before we went downtown, Brendan had a bunch of us over and made tasty kebabs for us all in his imitation George Foreman grill. He really is the host with the most. Not only did he make all this food for us, but he refused to even start making his own dinner until we'd all had two kebabs each. Then we sat around and gossiped about our residents while listening to old TLC songs, in memory of Left Eye. (Though this rapidly disintegrated into an argument about the most attractive member of TLC. Some people thought T Boz, but they were wrong, since the correct answer is Chili. Duh.) Last night I went home to have dinner with my family, and we went to Kai, this ultra-chic new Japanese restaurant/tea parlor that just opened recently. It was pretty good. For the main course, I ordered the black cod cooked in a salt crust, mainly because I had watched too many episodes of Iron Chef and wanted to finally know what the salt crust was all about. (Warning: whatever you do, do not eat the salt crust, even though it looks like bread or cake. After the preparation of the fish, it's strictly ornamental. And salty.) The food itself was really good. Very small portions, but that's just my speed anyway. I finished everything on my plate and felt proud, like I was some big hearty eater for once. Joe just got back from the airport. I was worried, as usual, because it's really foggy tonight, but there were no problems flying in, apparently. Neurosurgery starts tomorrow. These little one-week surgical subspecialty rotations are just flying by, I tell you what. I still haven't decided what I want to do with my life, but further updates as events warrent. That's all for now. xo Michelle |
Bikini Briefs |
So you know how recently, I've been talking about being interested in Ob/Gyn? Well, here's a very good reason why, for now, one shouldn't step into the ring... From the American Medical Association: Outrageous liability rates are driving physicians from their practices, leaving patients vulnerable and the entire field of medicine in a state of turmoil. Physicians across the country are reporting massive hikes in their medical professional liability insurance (PLI): the average increase for 2001 was 15 percent, and it is predicted that rates could rise as much as 50 percent this year for specific specialties in some regions. The current system has resulted in a liability lottery, where select patients receive the highest care, and many others receive none at all. "Patients can't get care when doctors can't afford insurance," said AMA President Richard F. Corlin, MD. "There are too many patients whose physicians have been forced to discontinue high-risk procedures, leave their state and retire early because of out-of-control legal climates and skyrocketing liability premiums. Something must be done." Dr. Corlin pointed to the recent call by Texas physicians on local lawmakers for relief from skyrocketing medical liability insurance rates that have increased as much as 300 percent in some regions and for some specialties. To make matters worse, several carriers are abandoning the liability insurance business, leaving many remaining physicians with no coverage. More examples of the degenerating situation: - In 2001, eight states saw two or more liability insurers raise rates by at least 30 percent last year, according to an AMNews analysis. Neurosurgeons, obstetricians and other high-risk specialists were hit hardest - Manual malpractice rates have reached as high as $203,000 for some Florida ob/gyns and $134,000 for several Texas general surgeons. - Jury awards in medical liability cases increased 43 percent in 1999 alone, from $700,000 to $1,000,000, with an upswing in awards of $1 million or more. While medicine was able to cope with a similar crisis in 1970's, cost and availability of coverage have reemerged as critical sore spots as we enter the 21st century. According to a survey recently released by the Health Care Liability Alliance (HCLA), the majority of Americans support medical liability reform. "Liability reform is one of the AMA's top legislative priorities, and today's survey results show the vast majority of Americans support liability reform as well," said AMA Secretary-treasurer Donald J. Palmisano, MD. "An overwhelming 78 percent of Americans say they are concerned about the impact rising liability costs have on access to care, and 73 percent support a law that caps 'pain and suffering' awards." Legislators are beginning to realize that this is not just a physician issue, but a patient issue. A physician facing these insurance premiums is likely to practice defensively, order extra tests and use only procedures that limit risk. The AMA is stepping up to do something about the crisis, fighting for tort reform measures at both the state and federal levels, and working closely with past tort reform champions. The AMA is hopeful that, as efforts on this issue move forward, all interested parties can join together on achieving sensible medical liability reform. Here's what you can do: - Read continually updated PLI information from the AMA. - If you are a physician, voice your opinion on this issue. Visit the AMA in Washington Web site to get connected with your legislator. - If you are a patient, let your physician know how concerned you are about this issue, and that you support the AMA's efforts to cut back on the complex rules to ensure you get the care you need. Visit the AMA's Web site to learn more about the many ways the AMA is helping protect health care for you. (Link to the AMA >>) |
