A lot is going on in with professional liability these days.

1. InsideHealthPolicy.com recently reported that it is not looking like Congress will fund a tort reform provision of the health reform law (PPACA). The provision authorized $50 million to be spent on medical liability demonstration grants to test out ways to improve the tort system. However, the Senate’s final 2011 HHS appropriations bill does not include this funding, and some following the House process (the actual details are still embargoed) don’t believe they’ll include it either. Senate HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Tom Harkin (D-IA) said that the Senate didn’t include the funding because it wasn’t requested. HOWEVER, in a separate project by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, $25 million has been awarded for a project with similar goals.
2. Given that Congress isn’t exactly moving at a speedy pace with tort reform, the ACC launched a resource on Friday to help practices and physicians reduce their claims risk. The ACCF’s Risk Management Institute (ACCRMI) provides case-based risk management education tools and information to reduce the risk of medical professional liability claims (by increasing patient safety). ACCRMI’s education tools draw from real life in cardiovascular medicine because they are built from data regarding trends analysis gathered from closed medical professional liability claims involving cardiovascular disease treatment. To help develop the ACCRMI, the Physician Insurers Association of America (PIAA) shared information with ACC from closed claims between 1986 and 2008. Learn more about the ACCRMI at http://CardioSource.org/RMI.
3. Finally, the House Energy and Commerce Committee back in July approved H.R. 1745, the “Family Health Care Accessibility Act.” The bill amends the Public Health Service Act to provide tort liability protection for volunteer practitioners at community health centers. The ACC is developing a liability law proposal that would be broader than H.R. 1745, which would at least be one step in the right direction to lowering liability protection premium costs.

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