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The need for more doctors is so critical that Medical College of Georgia must expand immediately to produce physicians that will remain in GA — assuring both public health and economic opportunity for all citizens.

A report calling for a 60% increase in enrollment at the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine was accepted by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents in a special meeting, according to a news release. The report, requested by the Board of Regents, will be used as a general framework for a possible 12-year $210 million expansion plan.

If approved, the timeline calls for increasing enrollment to 1,200 by 2020 from 745 now. It would expand the school’s campus in Augusta and its two clinical campuses: 439-bed Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany and a new facility being developed in Savannah. A new four-year campus in Athens would also be developed as part of a partnership with the University of Georgia, the release said. By 2020, the plan calls for 900 students at the Augusta campus and 240 at the Athens facility.

The report stated that Georgia now ranks 40th among the 50 states in the number of physicians per residents. According to statistics released by the American Medical Association, Georgia has a population of 9.36 million with 22,805 doctors, which means a ratio of 411 residents for every physician.

Source: Andis Robeznieks, Modern Healthcare
Posted: January 22, 2008

The American Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers and FASA agreed to merge.

The American Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers and FASA agreed to merge, the groups announced. The two largest ASC trade groups will become one organization on Jan. 1, 2008—the same date a new payment system for ASCs will kick in under Medicare, setting a new compensation rate of 65% of what hospital outpatient departments get paid. Some ASCs will see their payments drop dramatically under the new system.

This regulatory development underscores the need for the two associations to merge their knowledge and resources, and to effectively influence Medicare policy and national legislative initiatives that support ASCs, according to a written statement from the groups. The merger would provide other benefits, such as a unified voice supporting ASCs; improved services to address challenges and opportunities ASCs face in state regulatory and legislative policies; expanded services, seminars and membership communications for the ASC industry; and expanded participation in benchmarking efforts and other available resources to address quality and transparency initiatives.

The new association will be headquartered in Alexandria, Va., where FASA is based, and will be governed by a board of directors and other leaders that will fully incorporate the expertise of both the AAASC and FASA. Kathy Bryant, current president of FASA, will assume the role of chief executive officer of the new association. After supporting the transition, Craig Jeffries, executive director of the AAASC, “will step aside from any staff responsibility,” according to the statement.

When asked whether the AAASC’s employees who are based in Johnson City, Tenn., would join the new organization in Alexandria, FASA said: “We’re going to evaluate that situation on a case—by—case basis and see what we’re going to do. There’s lots of details to be worked out.”

Posted: October 13, 2007

Exhaustive report analyses $4.5 billion of the hospital professional liability losses

CHICAGO, October 18, 2005 – While the severity of malpractice claims continues to rise – growing at a rate of 7.5 percent annually – the frequency of malpractice claims has decreased by one percent over the past year, according to the 2005 Hospital Professional Liability and Physician Liability Benchmark Analysis released today by Aon (NYSE: AOC). This is the first time in the history of the study the frequency trend decreased in claims for both hospitals and physicians.

Greg Larcher, assistant director and actuary of Aon Risk Consultants and author of the analysis explained: “We believe that legislative reforms in several states over the last few years are contributing to the reduction in claims. In addition, the medical malpractice availability and affordability crisis of the last several years has resulted in a rapidly growing alternative market. Healthcare systems now have a greater financial incentive to reduce their cost of risk.”

Added Greg Morris, chief operating officer of Aon Healthcare: “Actions taken by healthcare systems to improve quality of care and a heightened awareness of how quality care and patient safety tie directly to the cost of risk have also played a role in the decline.”

The comprehensive study examines more than 200,000 hospital bed equivalents and represents approximately 10 percent of the hospital professional liability market, and 15 percent of the alternative segment of the market, making it the largest analysis of its kind.

In total, the analysis database contains 53,000 non-zero claims, representing $4.5 billion of incurred losses, and includes historical claims information for 10 accident years (1995 to 2004). The study also includes breakouts of claim costs and frequency trends by facility type, including university, specialty, religious, publicly traded and community.

Source: Edward J. Kuhn, Modern Healthcare — October 20, 2005

Baxter Healthcare Corp. recalled all models of its Colleague Volumetric Infusion Pumps because the pumps can shut down while delivering medication and fluids to patients, the Food and Drug Administration said.

Approximately 255,000 of the pumps are in use, including 206,000 in the U.S., but users should not at this time return the pumps to Baxter, the FDA said.

The agency deemed it a Class I recall, the most serious type. Baxter received six reports of serious injury and three reports of deaths associated with the problem, the FDA said.

The company has stopped shipping the pumps until the problems are resolved.

In March, Baxter advised customers to stop using pumps that exhibited specific failure codes and have the pumps inspected by authorized service personnel.

Source: By Cinda Becker, Modern Healthcare — July 22, 2005

The Center for Justice and Democracy, New York, said 15 of the nation’s biggest malpractice insurers “price–gouged” physicians from 2000 to 2004, increasing net premiums 120% while their net payments for claims rose 5.7% during that period. Nine of the 15 companies in the center’s report were mutual insurers owned by policyholders. Among the six publicly traded companies in the report, three did a large portion of their business in medical malpractice and three did not. Study author Jay Angoff, former director of the Missouri Insurance Department, said the data “prove that doctors have been overcharged during the last several years.” The 25–page report was based on insurers’ annual statements, the center said.

Lawrence Smarr, president of the Physician Insurers Association of America, which represents professional liability insurers, said the study did not prove price–gouging because companies set premiums to build reserves for future claims a decade or more in advance. Smarr said liability insurers as an industry have lost money for the past five years. The center is a not–for–profit organization opposed to tort reforms that limit consumers’ rights, according to its Web site.

Source: Modern Healthcare — July 07, 2005

The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, June 21, 2005 examined how malpractice insurance premiums for anesthesiologists have decreased over the past 20 years because they have “focused on improving patient safety” rather than legislation that would “protect them against patient lawsuits.”

According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists, anesthesiologists this year will have an average annual malpractice insurance premium of $20,572, a 37% decrease from 1985 after adjustment for inflation. Anesthesiologists have supported the use of devices that alert surgeons to potential problems in the operating room and have helped develop computerized mannequins that simulate such problems.

In addition, anesthesiologists have supported procedures that protect unconscious patients from potential carbon-monoxide poisoning. As a result of such efforts, patient deaths from anesthesia over the past 20 years have decreased from one per 5,000 cases to one per 200,000 to 300,000 cases, according to studies compiled by the Institute of Medicine.

The decrease in patient deaths from anesthesia has contributed to a reduction in the percentage of total malpractice lawsuits filed against anesthesiologists, the Journal reports. According to a recent study conducted by Public Citizen, anesthesiologists in 1972 accounted for 7.9% of total malpractice lawsuits, compared with 3.8% between 1985 and 2001. In addition, the amount of payments from malpractice lawsuits against anesthesiologists also has decreased.

According to ASA, the median payment from malpractice lawsuits against anesthesiologists in the 1990s was $179,010, a 46% decrease from the 1970s after adjustment for inflation. “Noting the success achieved by anesthesiologists, other doctors — notably surgeons — have aimed more at improving treatment methods,” the Journal reports.

In conclusion, the most effective way to convince insurance company actuaries to reduce malpractice rates is to identify certain areas of your specialty that are causing the claims and work together towards focusing on reducing claims associated with these areas.

Source: The Wall Street Journal — June 21, 2005

Please contact 800–871–6871 if you have any questions, or visit our website for more info at www.medmalpractice-ins.com

CRNA’s not holding a Masters Degree will not be “grandfathered in” after 07/01/2005.

If you have Providers you think will be interested in Tennessee licensure who do not have a Masters Degree, you may want to notify them. Per the Tennessee Board of Nursing, if their application is received at the Board of Nursing before July 1, 2005, even though not processed, they can be grandfathered in. After July 1, 2005, if a CRNA does not hold a Masters degree, he/she will not work in Tennessee.

June 15, 2005