Caring for patients in a malpractice crisis: physician satisfaction and quality of care.
The rhetoric of malpractice reform is at fever pitch, but political advocacy does not necessarily reflect grassroots opinion. To determine whether the ongoing liability crisis has greatly reduced physicians' professional satisfaction, we surveyed specialist physicians in Pennsylvania. We found widespread discontent among physicians practicing in high-liability environments, which seems to be compounded by other financial and administrative pressures. Opinion alone should not determine public policy, but physicians' perceptions matter for two reasons. First, perceptions influence behavior with respect to practice environment and clinical decision making. Second, perceptions influence the physician-patient relationship and the interpersonal quality of care.
Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. mmello@hsph.harvard.edu
Michelle M
MM
Mello
David M
DM
Studdert
Catherine M
CM
DesRoches
Jordon
J
Peugh
Kinga
K
Zapert
Troyen A
TA
Brennan
William M
WM
Sage
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016365:Liability, Legal; D008318:Malpractice; D005791:Patient Care; D010414:Pennsylvania; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D011050:Policy Making; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D011787:Quality of Health Care