Let me introduce you to my friend Jeffrey Segal, MD, FACS. Jeffrey is a neurosurgeon and has developed a business called Medical Justice. Essentially, Jeffrey converts Tort (malpractice) law into Contract law. Allow me to overly simplify. There are three parties: a physician, a patient, and insurance company, (technically “companies”).
Old Tort Model: The patient feels he/she is wronged. The patient sues the physician. An insurer, (malpractice), may or may not pay a settlement, but somewhere along the way, lawyers are paid ultimately from healthcare dollars. Doctors suffer either way, especially for a frivolous suit.
New Contract Law Model: The patient signs over his/her right to sue the physician to the healthcare insurer. The healthcare insurer gives physicians evidenced based CLINICAL guidelines to use. If the physician deviates from these guidelines, the insurance company may decide to sue. If the guidelines were followed and an adverse outcome occurred, no suit.
Old Model Scenario: A patient presents with a headache. A physician does a clinical assessment and initiates treatment. Three months later, while on vacation, the patient presents to an ER with a really bad headache and the ER doc orders a knee-jerk CT of the head and a brain tumor is diagnosed. The patient sues his physician. It may or may not result in a settlement, but it will cost lots of money in any event, even if the treatment was appropriate. Once burned, the physician may order CT scans on the heads of all patients who have a headache for the rest of his/her career. Medical costs climb with “unnecessary” tests. (There are no “unnecessary tests”…. the tests may simply not be necessary for the patient!)
Under the new model, if clinical guidelines were followed, there is no cause for action. Overall costs are reduced, (saving insurers and patient’s paying premiums), and malpractice costs decline. Clinically up to date, evidence based standardized care is promoted. (Saving paying for CT scans on every headache). Bad outcomes are simply bad outcomes. Decisions to sue for Malpractice are not prevented, only restricted to differentiate malpractice from bad outcomes. Frivolous lawsuits decline, real actionable suits are not prevented. Who really loses? Malpractice attorneys!
Jeffrey works with physicians, practice groups and hospitals and has racked up impressive results. I’ve simplified greatly, but to read more, visit Medical Justice. Here’s a note from Jeffrey about if these contracts are viable:
Physician-Patient Contracts: Will They Sign?
By this point, most American physicians know what “binding arbitration” is. While these sorts of legal issues used to be of little concern to doctors, the current medico-legal climate has forced physicians to make themselves aware of these issues. More and more physicians are either exploring binding arbitration or already requiring patients to sign such agreements before treatment.
Some physicians are concerned about patients’ willingness to sign a contract before treatment. While some patients might have reservations, experience has proven to many doctors that the majority of patients have no problems with it. Still, the big question for many physicians is this: Will they sign? (and also, should you treat them if they won’t?) Binding arbitration is not the only type of patient-physician contract. Medical Justice employs a contract-based deterrent system that sets up numerous barriers to protect physicians from lawsuits while asking extremely little of patients. Because the agreement asks significantly less of patients than binding arbitration, experience has shown that most patients happily sign the agreement.
The key message here is that physicians still have options, even in today’s hostile legal climate. Though doctors must be more proactive and legally savvy than ever before, there are friends out there willing to lend a hand. Medical Justice has helped numerous physicians proactively protect themselves from frivolous malpractice lawsuits, libel on the internet, and other dangers.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE
Contact Information:
www.medicaljustice.com
toll-free 877-MED-JUSTice (877-633-5878)
One Comment
Tray:
Thanks for posting the article. While many physicians often bemoans the fact that the tort system is capricious and targets physicians indiscriminately, there is an esy way to take control in advance. We have been assisting physicians for 5 years. Having patients sign a brief, patient-friendly contract, in advance of treatment can be used to deter frivolous cases before they are filed. Our physicians plan members are sued at a rate under 2% per year. This compares to 10% for national average.
All the best,
Jeff Segal, MD
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