The legal system, insurance, and health care. What can be done about the liability problem? An ECRI technology management assessment.

Health care providers are currently experiencing a malpractice "crisis" that, in some regions and for some medical specialties, is as serious as the one that occurred a decade ago. Whether providers themselves, the insurance industry, or lawyers and the legal system are seen as responsible for today's crisis depends primarily on the observer. However, evidence indicates that, in health care, negligence by those who provide services (physicians and hospital personnel) is a more important factor in the health care liability crisis than is so for other sectors of society that also face liability-insurance problems (e.g., municipal governments, light aircraft manufacturers, ski-slope operators). While physicians and hospitals can participate in legislative efforts to achieve tort reform and more stringent regulation of liability insurers, this study suggests that they will have more success in reducing malpractice insurance premium rates by concentrating instead on improving the quality of patient care. Towards this end, a number of specific actions are outlined, ranging from greater use of patient-care protocols and algorithms to increased activity by state medical licensing and disciplinary boards.