By George Wallace http://www.zwire.com Some 250 physicians from John T. Mather Memorial Hospital, St. Charles Hospital and other healthcare facilities in Suffolk County descended on state government offices last week to press their case for reforms that would rein in alarming increases in malpractice insurance costs, which they say are driving doctors out of business […]

By Sheri Porter http://www.aafp.org Physician practices across the country are beginning to limit the care they provide for Medicare patients as Medicare physician payments fail to keep pace with the cost of providing health care to seniors. That’s according to a study of more than 1,000 physician practices conducted by the Medical Group Management Association, […]

http://www.financialweek.com When an IBM executive suddenly developed chest pain, he made an appointment with a cardiologist, who performed a battery of tests that had inconclusive results except an unidentifiable abnormality in the neck region. The cardiologist referred the executive to a neck surgeon, who removed the abnormality. The chest pain, however, persisted. Several months later, […]

by MARK SCOLFORO – The Associated Press http://www.philly.com HARRISBURG, Pa. – House Democrats on Wednesday introduced a billion-dollar-plus plan to roll out state-subsidized health insurance for about 270,000 uninsured Pennsylvania adults over the next five years.Backers promoted it as the next logical step to follow recent state laws that cover children and pay prescription costs […]

By: Bradley Vasoli, The Bulletin http://www.thebulletin.us A policy institute yesterday released a report that ranked Pennsylvania’s legal climate the sixth worst in the nation in terms of both state policy and cost of litigation. The San Francisco-based Pacific Research Institute compared the scope and impact of litigiousness on each state and determined that, judging by […]

Denver Business Journal – by Bob Mook http://www.bizjournals.com The co-sponsor of a proposal that would raise the caps on medical malpractice lawsuits said Wednesday he would ask the House Judiciary Committee to delay a vote on the bill to work out some issues that doctors raised about the legislation. Senate Bill 164, sponsored by Sen. […]

By Dr. MICHAEL LYNCH http://www.concordmonitor.com I am an emergency physician. I care for about 5,000 patients a year. I have been practicing for 12 years and thus have cared for roughly 60,000 patients. I receive deep satisfaction from my job and the privilege of the “laying on of hands” as the physician-patient relationship is called […]

http://www.bradenton.com Floridians have been served notice again that the state’s doctor shortage looms large over our health care system. Just a few days after the president of the Florida Medical Association sounded a dire warning about the “critical” physician deficit, Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg was forced to stop taking trauma patients due to […]

© 2008 The Associated Press http://www.chron.com LOS ANGELES — SCPIE Holdings Inc. said Monday a proxy advisory firm recommended shareholders vote in favor of the $268.8 million acquisition of the medical malpractice insurance provider by The Doctors Co. SCPIE said Glass Lewis & Co. found that the offer gives shareholders “financially fair consideration” for their […]