Med Mal Crisis in Rural States

[Finn]

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I worked for seven orthopods in WY for five years. The surgeons own their own building with two surgical suites, three large patient pods, extremity MRI, and physical therapy. The business has been in existance since the early 1970's and they serve populations throughout the state. Three of the seven orthopods have completed fellowships (spine, trauma and hand) and are all board certified. However, one of the seven has been sued twice (one frivolous and not sure about the other). Now, even with extreme med mal insurance rates, the insurance carrier is dropping them and it is questionable if one of the only other two insurance companies that cover WY will pick them up. If they are not picked up they are going to close down. Three will retire early and the other four will move to states with tort reform to practice. They will be laying off over 50 people and end a vital service to a rural population. In the paper Sunday it was noted that Casper, WY (population of 50,000) has lost 13 physicians in the last year secondary to med mal insurance costs.

This is a crisis. It is hard enough to get physicians to come to rural states when they aren't raped by med mal insurance and the lawyers that cause it.

 

[shocker]

I will be attending ECU which really focuses on rural medicine. I have been debating setting up shop in some small town, but stories like this are making me reconsider..... That is a tragic story and you are absolutely right that this is a crisis..... Watch out for the Democratic trial lawyers trying to get into the White House. Especially John Edwards the malpractice king.

 

[Finn]

The end of the story is that there is now a special session in the legislature trying to get some caps on pain and suffering rewards and some limits on what lawyers can make off of these cases. That was an issue on the table when the regular session was in too, but was blocked by the democrats. Now there is a crisis and if it doesn't pass... don't get sick in WY because all the docs are going to be in our neighboring states where med mal insurance rates are 1/2-1/3 lower secondary to legislation.

The moral of the story is VOTE DEMOCRAT... it's easier than working. 😉

 

[Jillianrae]

Not that WY had all that many doctors to begin with. Being a WWAMI state and all.

 

[Finn]

Exactly! Doctors try and recruit partners for years with marginal success and now there is a mass exodus to states with tort reform.

How concerned are those of you now in med school about this issue?

 

[dnickers]

It's true that med malpractice suits are making it harder for doctors every year. I'm a pre-med that grew up in Wyoming and I plan to return there to practice, hopefully as a UWSOM WWAMI graduate. I agree that rising malpractice insurance costs are a big problem in Wyoming.

Take my dad, for instance. He's a retired orthopaedic surgeon. Retired because of medical problems that have since been remedied. He could easily return to work. He's only 55, and could easily practice for another 10 or 15 years. The catch? The $50,000+ that he would have to come up with for malpractice insurance each year. He loved practicing medicine, but working like a dog to come up with that much money every year just doesn't look that appealing.

Props to the Governor and others in the legislature that working hard and proposing solutions to these problems. Not all of them are great, but they're a good start.

All I can say is don't lose hope. It's a challenge to be sure, but I know there are others out there like me who are committed to practicing medicine in Wyoming. I say screw the lawsuits, I know where I want to work.

 

[Jalopycat]

I suspect nothing will change until some Senator's kid needs emergency neurosurgery and there's not a surgeon around because of the malpractice crisis. I'm not trying to be negative, but it seems like nothing ever gets lawmakers' attention until it hits home.

 

[ad_sharp]

Yeah, Oklahoma is going through the same stuff. The Ob/Gyns are leaving the state in droves or limiting their practice in order to curb the high insurance cost. If you want to know a little more and see how scary this really can be, refer to this thread that I started earlier this year in the preallo forum. An increase of 82% in a year is enough to make your head spin.