FMDA Survey Results on Liability Insurance

Florida Medical Directors Association (FMDA) just released the results of a statewide survey that assessed the availability and affordability of professional and medical liability insurance coverage for physicians who are attending physicians and/or medical directors in Florida's skilled nursing facilities.

Of the 763 licensed skilled nursing facilities in Florida, the survey reached 725, or 95 percent. To date, FMDA has received 210 responses, or 29 percent, from nursing home administrators to the survey titled, "Survey to Determine the Impact of Availability and Affordability of Liability Insurance Coverage on Florida's LTC Medical Directors and Attending Physicians." A review of the results revealed the following:

• 16 percent reported that physicians have stopped following their patients in the past 12 months due to difficulty obtaining liability coverage,
• 22 percent said that physicians in their facilities reported that they will be forced to stop seeing patients in the long-term care setting due to high liability insurance rate increases,
• 27 percent reported that physicians in their facility had been notified that their medical malpractice insurance will not be renewed or will increase in cost specifically because they were primary care physicians for nursing home residents,

Congratulations Florida! Congratulations to the Florida Medical Directors Association for being awarded the "APEX 2002 Award of Excellence in the One to Two Person-Produced Newsletters" category for work on its statewide newsletter Progress Report. The APEX Awards is an annual competition that recognizes outstanding publications including newsletters, magazines, annual reports, brochures and web sites.

Kudos to Dr. Kutner In the June 2002 issue of Florida Monthly Magazine, Dr. Morris Kutner, MD, CMD was selected as one of Florida's top doctors in geriatric medicine by a panel of doctors assembled by the magazine. The panelists were asked to select the physicians whom they would visit themselves in the various medical specialties. Visit the magazine's web site at www.floridamagazine.com.

• 56 percent reported that their medical director would not continue in their capacity if he/she was not covered by their nursing home's insurance and if he/she could not secure his/her own coverage,
• 27 percent reported that their facility was having difficulty getting adequate physician coverage for their patients as a result of physician liability issues,
• 66 percent reported to have seen an increase in the number of physician assistants and nurse practitioners being used to supplement the physician visits, and
• 19 percent reported that nurse practitioners were having the same problem securing liability coverage.

This survey was developed in response to anecdotal reports about medical liability insurance policies not being renewed when coverage expired. Oftentimes, the reason given was lawsuits against nursing homes. Also, premiums for professional liability insurance that cover the administrative duties of the medical directors had reportedly ballooned. Another alarming issue was that group coverage was being denied to group practices when even one member practices in a nursing home or serves as a medical director.

The questionnaire, which was developed in consultation with Florida Health Care Association and Florida Association of Homes for the Aging, clearly indicated that medical directors have become the most recent victims of the state's insurance crisis. They are a key component in the provision of high-quality medical care in nursing homes. Without adequate insurance coverage, dedicated physicians who have specialized in geriatric medicine are being forced to terminate their roles in nursing homes.

For more information, contact Ian Cordes, FMDA Executive Director, at 561/659-5581 or e-mail to ian.cordes@fmda.org.

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