By Toby Sells http://www.bizjournals.com/ Tennessee doctors didn’t get everything they wanted in the way of medical liability reform this year, but some say they got a step in the right direction. The General Assembly passed a bill in early May that will direct plaintiffs to give doctors a 60-day, pre-lawsuit notification; require plaintiffs to get […]

By Valerie Bauman http://www.insurancejournal.com/ State lawmakers say New York Gov. David Paterson’s proposal to increase doctor oversight and prevent misconduct has a good chance of passing this session — but with changes. Assembly Health Committee Chairman Richard Gottfried, a New York City Democrat, says both legislative chambers will have a few concerns about Paterson’s proposal […]

http://www.kaisernetwork.org Physicians in Massachusetts pay lower premium rates for malpractice coverage than they did in 1990, despite previous claims that high rates are causing them to leave the state, according to a study published in the current issue of Health Affairs, the Boston Globe reports. For the study, researchers at Suffolk University’s Law School, led […]

By Winston Ross http://www.registerguard.com FLORENCE — In a bigger city, the departure of two primary care physicians from a hospital network in a single month isn’t a big deal. Patients can be absorbed into other practices, and more doctors can be counted on to move in and fill the void. In a town the size […]

BY RIDGELY OCHS http://www.newsday.com Gov. David A. Paterson introduced a wide-ranging patient safety bill yesterday that would give the state more authority in health investigations and, for the first time, make public names of doctors under scrutiny. The bill follows the case of Dr. Harvey Finkelstein, a Long Island doctor whose poor infection control practices […]

By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writer http://news.yahoo.com/ WASHINGTON – Legislation that would require prescription drug makers to disclose payments to doctors got a boost Tuesday when Eli Lilly and Co. broke ranks with the industry and endorsed the bill. Lawmakers gained Eli Lilly’s support after they agreed to raise the payment limit requiring disclosure from […]

By Steven Reinberg http://www.washingtonpost.com/ TUESDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) — The quality of care at hospitals that treat poor and underserved patients, often called safety-net hospitals, is lagging well behind hospitals that do not serve these patients, a new study finds. These hospitals, which rely on state and federal funding from Medicaid and other sources, […]

By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS http://www.nytimes.com/ New York’s public and private hospitals stand to lose more than $1 billion in state and federal funds for the training of doctors because of changes to the Medicaid program backed by the Bush administration, according to an analysis by the city’s Independent Budget Office released on Tuesday. The change would […]

By GETAHN WARD http://www.tennessean.com At Vanderbilt University Medical Center, up to 35 percent of trauma victims come in with alcohol or drugs in their system at the time of an accident. Under state law, insurers can deny payment of those medical claims, something that doctors and hospitals argue not only costs them money but also […]