Physician Profession in Decline, Study Says

A new, large-scale study was released last week by The Doctors Company. The Doctors Company is one of the liability companies that we work with most often here at MyMedicalMalpracticeInsurance.com and it is worth listening when they have something to say. They are one of the largest national med mal insurance companies, with an excellent reputation.

The Doctors Company surveyed its physician members (physicians and surgeons) of the company and had 5,000 respondents. The most startling and disheartening findings were 1) that 90% of physicians surveyed said that they would not recommend health care as a profession and 2) that more than 40% of respondents said that they were thinking about retiring in the next five years due to changes in the health care system. Wow. That is some negative data about the state of health care and the health care profession. And, needless to say, all of this only exacerbates fears of a physician shortage on a national scale.

While not much was said in the summary findings about concerns over med mal and med mal insurance, it did say that 65% of respondents felt that the current legislative initiatives to reduce health care costs are not enough to address the root causes of defensive medicine. There is no denying that fear of malpractice litigation is a major concern of today’s physicians (and understandably so) and that practicing defensive medicine is one way physicians try to manage this fear. As physician advocates, we understand that liability insurance is a major expense and surviving a med mal case is tough and exhausting. Surviving even one med mal case can often change a physician’s perspective on the medical profession.

While we here at MyMedicalMalpracticeInsurance.com can’t prevent med mal cases from happening, we can provide our physicians with piece of mind by providing excellent liability coverage, from companies like The Doctors Company, at the best prices possible. Call for a liability quote today.