We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Malpractice liability costs and the practice of medicine in the Medicare program.
- Authors
Baicker, Katherine; Fisher, Elliott S; Chandra, Amitabh
- Abstract
Mounting malpractice liability costs might affect physician practice patterns in many ways, such as increasing the use of diagnostic procedures while reducing major surgeries. This paper quantifies the association between malpractice liability costs and the use of physician services in Medicare. We find that higher malpractice awards and premiums are associated with higher Medicare spending, especially for imaging services that are often believed to be driven by physicians' fears of malpractice. The 60 percent increase in malpractice premiums between 2000 and 2003 is associated with an increase in total Medicare spending of more than $15 billion.
- Publication
Health affairs (Project Hope), 2007, Vol 26, Issue 3, p841
- ISSN
1544-5208
- Publication type
Journal Article
- DOI
10.1377/hlthaff.26.3.841