BY DAVID WENNER Of The Patriot-News http://www.pennlive.com The state insurance commissioner will soon announce whether doctors must carry an additional $250,000 in medical malpractice insurance. Doctors now must buy $500,000 in private coverage. They get an additional $500,000 in coverage from Mcare, a state program funded with a surcharge on doctors. Joel Ario, the newly […]

BY BEN STEPHENS http://www.lvbusinesspress.com Years after many of the state’s physicians shut their doors to avoid soaring medical malpractice insurance rates, Dr. Warren Volker took matters into his own hands. In February 2006, the chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Summerlin Hospital launched a doctor-owned and operated medical malpractice insurance firm aimed at retaining quality […]

By Kathleen Kerr, Newsday LA TIMES In a 150-square-foot tin-ceilinged office in a building that once housed a speakeasy, Dr. Moitri Savard checks her laptop to see whether any patients have scheduled themselves to see her. Wait, scheduled themselves? Yes. Savard’s patients decide when they want to see her and then let her know by […]

By Kathleen Kerr, Newsday LA TIMES In a 150-square-foot tin-ceilinged office in a building that once housed a speakeasy, Dr. Moitri Savard checks her laptop to see whether any patients have scheduled themselves to see her. Wait, scheduled themselves? Yes. Savard’s patients decide when they want to see her and then let her know by […]

By REED ABELSON NY TIMES By coordinating care and keeping their patients out of the hospital, doctors can help reduce overall health care spending, Medicare officials said yesterday in announcing the results of an experiment that allowed doctors to share in the cost savings. The experiment, which started in April 2005 and is to continue […]

http://www.eileenmcdargh.com Doctor Rescues Peers from Stress A conspiracy of silence often shrouds busy professionals . No one wants to admit that burnout is rampant. Dy. Myo Thant, a respected oncologist with 26 years in practice, just broke through by starting RelaxDoc, a member-only web site for doctors to help each other find better work/life balance. […]

By DANNY HAKIM NY TIMES The Spitzer administration approved a 14 percent increase in medical malpractice insurance rates on Monday, the largest rate increase in a decade. Doctors’ groups protested angrily, but the administration said the move was necessary to prevent “perhaps an irreversible crisis,â€? since insurers were having trouble staying in the business. “We […]

http://emruser.typepad.com In a very interesting study, researchers at Kaiser Permanente in the US found that patients who consult their physicians via e-mail are less likely to visit their physician or to call their doctor’s office and as a result could reduce income for physicians whose revenue is generated by direct face-to-face contact. This study presents […]

By Bill Toland, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Pennsylvania’s doctors, especially high-risk surgeons and physicians from the east who pay higher medical malpractice rates, worry that a state-mandated change in insurance could result in an overnight 25 percent increase in their premiums. Any doctor who does the majority of his work in Pennsylvania is required by state law […]