Malpractice Insurance & Choosing Anesthesiology

[DrWJohnson]

Did the high malpractice rate anesthesiologists have to pay affect anyone's decision on choosing anesthesiology?

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[RipVanWinkle]

Actually, anesthesia is near the middle of the pack when it comes to malpractice rates. While it is true that they once were quite high, they have since decreased dramatically relative to various other fields because of increasing safety standards. For example, currently the average anesthesiologist can expect to pay less in yearly premiums than such fields as neurosurg, gen surg, ob/gyn, ortho, and emed just to name a few. Furthermore, the average rate in NY state ($26000/yr) is equal to dermatologists in the state and only $1000 more than internal medicine docs per year. Times have changed...

-RIP

 

[doc05]

Did the high malpractice rate anesthesiologists have to pay affect anyone's decision on choosing anesthesiology?

well, if you choose a specialty where you're actually DOING something - anesthesia, surgery, EM -- you have to deal with malpractice. what's the alternative? psychiatry, path, etc.

even so, rates are not too bad for gas docs, esp compared with surgery, ob, etc.

 

[IV Doc]

well, if you choose a specialty where you're actually DOING something - anesthesia, surgery, EM -- you have to deal with malpractice. what's the alternative? psychiatry, path, etc.

even so, rates are not too bad for gas docs, esp compared with surgery, ob, etc.

I can't imagine that psych or path are able to escape malpractice.

Psych - you are just depressed, take some of these pills and see me in the morning. Opps you jumped off a bridge.

Path - The 150 pap smears I saw today look fine but then opps one turns out to be early cervical cancer and they find it 5 years later. Please come take my house.

 

[proman]

Had a talk today from Risk Management on what the premiums are for a self-insured hospital. Psych and peds were both listed as <$5,000 per year, and vascular surgery was stated to be $300,000. I know derm runs about $10,000.