Doctors Surveyed Say Patients Get Too Much Medical Care; Medical Malpractice the Reason?

A study published in the Journal of American Medical Association found that fourth-two percent of U.S. doctors surveyed believe that their patients are getting too much medical care. The other reasons noted by the doctors varied. Another fifty-two percent felt their patients were receiving the correct amount of care. And the very last six percent said their patients were receiving too little care.

Of the same doctors, twenty-eight percent said the reason was because they felt they were treating their patients too aggressively, which again could be that fear of medical malpractice. Another forty-five percent said that one in about every ten patients they say in a day had medical issues that could have been dealt with over the phone, by e-mail, or even through a nurse. One reason-or what is being claimed as the reason-is the fear of malpractice suits!

In a way that means I'm doing my job. But does that means that doctors are being sued too much? Recent news reports, none which I had blogged about, did note that while doctors might be sued a generous amount, very few of them are actually paying out claims. In fact, one blog post I did write three weeks ago or so did not that pediatricians, a specialty least likely to be sued, paid out claims most often. Whereas OB-GYNs, one of the most sued specialty, actually paid out the least amount of claims.

This study is particularly important because the U.S. is the world's highest health spending per capita among developed nation by a healthy (excuse the pun) amount. Currently, the cost of health care is swirling around the U.S. as well because the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act is being contested.

What do you think? I'd love to hear what you think. I welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@mmolaw.net. You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.