Medical Liability Insurance and Damage Caps: Getting beyond Band Aids to Substantive Systems Treatment to Improve Quality and Safety in Healthcare

The medical liability crisis is affecting our healthcare system. Medical liability and limited physician and hospital access to malpractice insurance have pushed many providers to leave their states, reduce their services, or simply retire. For many, a labor of love has become an agonizing search for insurance to ensure continued practice in an industry for which they trained eight, fifteen, or even twenty years. Limited insurance and potential liability has also led to defensive medicine, in which providers try to avoid lawsuits by ordering tests, procedures, and anything else that might help protect against liability. Moreover, providers may also attempt to avoid high-risk patients or practices altogether to limit opportunities for lawsuits. Although it is questionable whether these efforts actually help, the provider perception of self-preservation through defensive medicine is undeniable—and providers, like everyone, act on their perceptions.