http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/ Aside from gasoline, not many commodities have endured a roller-coaster ride in prices like medical malpractice insurance rates. After climbing a breathtaking 28 percent and 33 percent in back-to-back years in 2004 and 2005, the rates for the state’s largest carrier are headed back down (albeit at a somewhat more leisurely pace). Medical Mutual […]

Kelsey Volkmann, The Examiner BALTIMORE – Doctors are leaving Maryland because of skyrocketing medical malpractice insurance costs, but the General Assembly might not tackle reform until 2008, when a temporary fix expires, observers and lawmakers say. Hospital medical directors say “they are spending an increasing amount of time on recruiting and retaining physicians,” said Pegeen […]

http://healthleadersmedia.com “There’s a popular notion that patients don’t like short length of stay.” says Paul Alexander Clark, senior knowledge manager for Press Ganey Associates in South Bend, Ind. Press Ganey develops patient satisfaction surveys for hospitals. On the contrary, Clark says reducing length of stay and increasing patient satisfaction are not conflicting goals. Based on […]

By M. William SalganikSun reporterhttp://www.baltimoresun.com Maryland’s largest malpractice insurer is seeking to cut its premiums by 8 percent for 2007 – a sharp contrast to 2004 and 2005, when hefty premium increases provoked waves of physician protests and pushed the state legislature into special session to enact premium subsidies. The rate reduction would be the […]