Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated an additional $9.4 trillion federal debt by 2026. This guesstimate put our great nation in potentially calamitous situations. As the federal government creates a bigger debt by borrowing more money for use, a reduced amount of funds are accessible to the private sectors (Lewis, 2018). Potential solutions offered by CBO can escalate revenue while reducing expenditure. One such chosen option from the CBO report is applicable to a health care organization, such as a hospital.
Limit Medical Malpractice Claims
Providers are extremely cautious and practice 'defensive' medicine today due inadvertent consequences that spiral into malpractice insurance. This was well-demonstrated in a recent study; according to Ubel (2018), "patients with headaches, another common complaint that rarely benefits from advanced imaging tests, but which can occasionally signal a serious illness that, if undetected, could lead to a lawsuit. Among those physicians not so worried about malpractice, around 6% ordered CT scans or MRIs for such patients, versus almost 12% of those with greater concerns about malpractice." The real question is: is the fear of malpractice causing the providers to be overly cautious while treating their patients or are they medically necessary?
With the fear of covering the unwanted expenses from individual pockets, providers get malpractice insurance. According to Options For Reducing The Deficit: 2017 To 2026"(n.d.), "providers' efforts to reduce their risk of facing malpractice claims also can lead to patients' using more health care services than would be the case in the absence of that risk." However, while employed by a hospital, chances are that the hospital incurs that cost. Therefore, if there was a capped limit on noneconomic and punitive costs or the statute of limitations is shortened, the hospital would benefit tremendously.
Malpractice insurance can reach an extravagant amount. While practicing 'defensive' medicine seems safer to some providers, research shows otherwise. According to How Much Does Medical Malpractice Insurance Cost?"(2015), "payouts for medical malpractice lawsuits amount to less than 1% of total healthcare costs. Oftentimes, defensive medicine, a related but different phenomenon, accounts for more added costs than malpractice insurance." Certain other factors such as location or high risk specialties impacting the cost cannot be changed. In Delaware, premiums for specialties like Internal Medicine, Surgery, and OB/Gyn range anywhere from $15,585 to $76,470 ("How Much Does Medical Malpractice Insurance Cost?" 2015). Organizations have to incur these costs for all their employed providers, which is precisely why hospitals would benefit from the capped malpractice limits.
Pros: If malpractice claims were limited
CBO estimates that if a federal limit was put on malpractice claims, it would decrease the total health care expenditure in two ways. It would decrease the malpractice premiums which the hospital pays because the malpractice remuneration would have decreased and fewer cases are filed against providers; this reduction would favor patients by way of decreased costs for health care services ("Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2017 To 2026", n.d.). If and when providers have less malpractice liability, they can practice medicine without reservations.
Cons: If malpractice claims were not limited
The biggest disadvantage of restricting malpractice claims is that the providers could become less vigilant, which could lead to increased medical damages to the patient. Another unwanted side-effect could be that after the insurance has paid out, the patients would have to sustain the remaining expenses. This could create some dissatisfied patients, who experienced medical negligence at your hospital.
Conclusion
Organizations work hard at ensuring patient safety and providing exceptional quality of service. By employing all kinds of providers and paying for their malpractice premiums, organizations are incurring the increased risk. The Karash (2017) website states, "Integrating the liability costs of hospitals and physicians can yield cost-savings. While commercial insurance currently is priced aggressively, hospitals still, in many cases, can self-insure a physician cheaper than it costs in the commercial market." The option of limiting malpractice insurance would help the hospital financially, which could also allow allocations towards patient safety, education, and a lot more.
Limit Medical Malpractice Claims
Providers are extremely cautious and practice 'defensive' medicine today due inadvertent consequences that spiral into malpractice insurance. This was well-demonstrated in a recent study; according to Ubel (2018), "patients with headaches, another common complaint that rarely benefits from advanced imaging tests, but which can occasionally signal a serious illness that, if undetected, could lead to a lawsuit. Among those physicians not so worried about malpractice, around 6% ordered CT scans or MRIs for such patients, versus almost 12% of those with greater concerns about malpractice." The real question is: is the fear of malpractice causing the providers to be overly cautious while treating their patients or are they medically necessary?
With the fear of covering the unwanted expenses from individual pockets, providers get malpractice insurance. According to Options For Reducing The Deficit: 2017 To 2026"(n.d.), "providers' efforts to reduce their risk of facing malpractice claims also can lead to patients' using more health care services than would be the case in the absence of that risk." However, while employed by a hospital, chances are that the hospital incurs that cost. Therefore, if there was a capped limit on noneconomic and punitive costs or the statute of limitations is shortened, the hospital would benefit tremendously.
Malpractice insurance can reach an extravagant amount. While practicing 'defensive' medicine seems safer to some providers, research shows otherwise. According to How Much Does Medical Malpractice Insurance Cost?"(2015), "payouts for medical malpractice lawsuits amount to less than 1% of total healthcare costs. Oftentimes, defensive medicine, a related but different phenomenon, accounts for more added costs than malpractice insurance." Certain other factors such as location or high risk specialties impacting the cost cannot be changed. In Delaware, premiums for specialties like Internal Medicine, Surgery, and OB/Gyn range anywhere from $15,585 to $76,470 ("How Much Does Medical Malpractice Insurance Cost?" 2015). Organizations have to incur these costs for all their employed providers, which is precisely why hospitals would benefit from the capped malpractice limits.
Pros: If malpractice claims were limited
CBO estimates that if a federal limit was put on malpractice claims, it would decrease the total health care expenditure in two ways. It would decrease the malpractice premiums which the hospital pays because the malpractice remuneration would have decreased and fewer cases are filed against providers; this reduction would favor patients by way of decreased costs for health care services ("Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2017 To 2026", n.d.). If and when providers have less malpractice liability, they can practice medicine without reservations.
Cons: If malpractice claims were not limited
The biggest disadvantage of restricting malpractice claims is that the providers could become less vigilant, which could lead to increased medical damages to the patient. Another unwanted side-effect could be that after the insurance has paid out, the patients would have to sustain the remaining expenses. This could create some dissatisfied patients, who experienced medical negligence at your hospital.
Conclusion
Organizations work hard at ensuring patient safety and providing exceptional quality of service. By employing all kinds of providers and paying for their malpractice premiums, organizations are incurring the increased risk. The Karash (2017) website states, "Integrating the liability costs of hospitals and physicians can yield cost-savings. While commercial insurance currently is priced aggressively, hospitals still, in many cases, can self-insure a physician cheaper than it costs in the commercial market." The option of limiting malpractice insurance would help the hospital financially, which could also allow allocations towards patient safety, education, and a lot more.