HSM 542 Week 6 Discussion Question 1
How does the existing U.S. legal system, as well as the need for professional liability
insurance coverage, impact patient care, physician behavior, and healthcare costs?
The U.S. legal system and profession liability insurance coverage provide a great deal of benefit
to the medical consumer. These systems provide a blanket protection for medical malpractice and
injury to patients. While medical malpractice litigation is often thought of as the only way
“injured” patients have to remedy a wrong that they incurred, truly it should be seen as a means
to “encourage providers to improve the quality of care they provide” (Hyman and Silver, 2009).
In a nutshell, what this means is that it takes the standards to which providers are held and places
those standards (and provider) under scrutiny. In return, litigation often is a means of showing
deficiencies in current standards and practices which then require additional review and change.
When looked at in this light, the legal system and insurance actually provide a means of
improving healthcare by eliminating bad practices.
There are, however, negative practices which have occurred as a result of the legal system and
liability insurance. Due to the litigious nature of today’s society, healthcare providers pay
tremendous amounts of money for comprehensive medical liability insurance. Conversely, many
healthcare professional are no longer practicing patient care in its true form, rather, they tend to
put more emphasis on the practice of defensive medicine. This includes redundant treatments
and practices which are intended to avoid litigation. The cost of law suits, defensive medicine,
malpractice insurance, legal fees and administrative expenses greatly increase the collective cost
of healthcare in the United States. As well, patient care is impacted because time is wasted
performing tasks which are intended to avoid litigation such as signing forms or being prescribed
the same diagnostics repeatedly.
In a study conducted by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers found that
medical liability costs totaled about 2.4% of annual health care spending in the United States, or
$55.6 billion per year in 2008 (Mello 2010). This study further revealed that the medical liability
system’s annual price tag includes $45.6 billion in defensive medicine costs, $5.7 billion in
malpractice claims payments, and more than $4 billion in administrative and other expenses.
Reference:
Hyman, David A. and Silver, Charles (2009, August 23). Malpractice Litigation in U.S. Health
Care Reform. Washington Times (Washington, D.C.), Retrieved April 8, 2014 from
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/23/medical-malpractice-litigation-
health-care-reform/.
Mello, M.M., Chandra, A., et al. (2010). National Costs of the Medical Liability System.
Harvard School of Public Health. Retrieved April 8, 2014 from web site:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/medical-liability-costs-us/
This study source was downloaded by 100000801755870 from CourseHero.com on 03-14-2022 10:33:47 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/23237484/HSM-542-Week-6-DQ-1-Professional-Liability-Insurance-Coverage/
How does the existing U.S. legal system, as well as the need for professional liability
insurance coverage, impact patient care, physician behavior, and healthcare costs?
The U.S. legal system and profession liability insurance coverage provide a great deal of benefit
to the medical consumer. These systems provide a blanket protection for medical malpractice and
injury to patients. While medical malpractice litigation is often thought of as the only way
“injured” patients have to remedy a wrong that they incurred, truly it should be seen as a means
to “encourage providers to improve the quality of care they provide” (Hyman and Silver, 2009).
In a nutshell, what this means is that it takes the standards to which providers are held and places
those standards (and provider) under scrutiny. In return, litigation often is a means of showing
deficiencies in current standards and practices which then require additional review and change.
When looked at in this light, the legal system and insurance actually provide a means of
improving healthcare by eliminating bad practices.
There are, however, negative practices which have occurred as a result of the legal system and
liability insurance. Due to the litigious nature of today’s society, healthcare providers pay
tremendous amounts of money for comprehensive medical liability insurance. Conversely, many
healthcare professional are no longer practicing patient care in its true form, rather, they tend to
put more emphasis on the practice of defensive medicine. This includes redundant treatments
and practices which are intended to avoid litigation. The cost of law suits, defensive medicine,
malpractice insurance, legal fees and administrative expenses greatly increase the collective cost
of healthcare in the United States. As well, patient care is impacted because time is wasted
performing tasks which are intended to avoid litigation such as signing forms or being prescribed
the same diagnostics repeatedly.
In a study conducted by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers found that
medical liability costs totaled about 2.4% of annual health care spending in the United States, or
$55.6 billion per year in 2008 (Mello 2010). This study further revealed that the medical liability
system’s annual price tag includes $45.6 billion in defensive medicine costs, $5.7 billion in
malpractice claims payments, and more than $4 billion in administrative and other expenses.
Reference:
Hyman, David A. and Silver, Charles (2009, August 23). Malpractice Litigation in U.S. Health
Care Reform. Washington Times (Washington, D.C.), Retrieved April 8, 2014 from
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/23/medical-malpractice-litigation-
health-care-reform/.
Mello, M.M., Chandra, A., et al. (2010). National Costs of the Medical Liability System.
Harvard School of Public Health. Retrieved April 8, 2014 from web site:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/medical-liability-costs-us/
This study source was downloaded by 100000801755870 from CourseHero.com on 03-14-2022 10:33:47 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/23237484/HSM-542-Week-6-DQ-1-Professional-Liability-Insurance-Coverage/
