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For Immediate
Release
2/21/07
CONTACT:
PA
Senate Republican Communications
(717) 787-6725
Orie Again Introduces Legislation
to Reform
Pennsylvania's Medical Liability System
HARRISBURG --
Senator Jane Orie
(R-Allegheny) today announced the re-introduction of legislation that would
provide demonstration grants to hospitals and affiliated physicians for
the development and implementation of alternatives to litigation for resolving
disputes.
These grants would establish pilot projects designed to reduce health care costs
and reduce medical errors. The pilot projects would provide for: (1) a uniform
schedule of compensation for injuries related to medical treatment; (2)
identification of preventable errors; and (3) better and more open sharing of
information between health care providers regarding preventable medical errors,
without fear of recrimination.
In announcing the legislation, Orie noted: "The
current system does not provide incentives to develop patient safety initiatives
because it is based on blame, it does not compensate all patients, and it does
not properly regulate the small percentage of practitioners who are responsible
for the majority of medical claims. We need to consider new and innovative
solutions to that will help to make the system fairer and help to resolve these
cases without such a high cost. As we have had at least three medical
malpractice 'crises' in recent memory, history has clearly shown that what is
needed is systemic reform."
The bill implements a recommendation of the Joint
State Government Commission with regard to its study of the feasibility of
establishing an alternative to the existing medical professional liability
system. The study,
performed pursuant to a Senate Resolution sponsored by Orie in 2003, looked at a
number of options, including developing an administrative system not based on
fault, or establishing specialized malpractice courts with medical expertise
that can properly determine issues such as the appropriate standard of care and
extent of damages. The Commission issued its recommendations in a March 2005
report entitled Medical Professional Liability Reform for the 21st Century: A
Review of Policy Options.
Orie said she is committed to finding ways to
improve the current system, to reduce frivolous lawsuits and to bring down
rising insurance premiums that are forcing doctors out of Pennsylvania. "Recent
studies have found that Pennsylvania's medical malpractice system performs
poorly on several benchmarks, including fairness, high cost, and consistency of
treatment. It is time to take a new direction in medical liability policy. I
believe this project will represent that new direction," Orie stated.
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