Social inflation is the increased perception of risk and accountability. Society and media’s aim towards a 0% risk culture, with 100% accountability in a highly complicated system with uniquely different individual patients. Tactics for recovering damages capitalize on the vulnerabilities of patients and healthcare professionals with a focus on the disproportionate impact of non-economic (pain and suffering).

- Birth injury bias. litigation firms advertising and targeting birth injury cases for high damage claims. Leads to shortage of physicians providing obstetric services and limits access to facilities.

- Litigation financing. Due to high verdicts, private equity investment is fueling more lawsuits and less likely to settle small claims taking advantage of both patients that were harmed and involved healthcare professionals. This affects resolution for both healthcare professionals and for patients.

- Nefarious behavior. While nefarious behavior is an ongoing challenge for healthcare professionals in providing care, Media coverage of high verdicts can amplify behaviors. These behaviors negatively affect our communities by increasing cost of care and healthcare access for those in true need.

- US litigation climate. More lawyers than doctors with high rewards for personal injury. Litigation is a BILLION dollar business. That is billions of dollars that could be spent for improving heathcare access and resources for our patients.

- Media/Advertising. Unpredictable or unavoidable outcomes occur in healthcare. We cannot escape disease, disability or death. When a harm event occurs, a one-sided perspective is widely shared creating bias. Healthcare physicians and organizations must hold to privacy restrictions in discussing care limiting a fair perspective.

- HealthcareReality. Healthcare has changed. Caring for patients requires extensive time in documentaion, authorizations, as well requirements for compliance/regulatory for states, hospitals, facilities, medical societies. There are now over 55,000 diagnosis codes and >20,000 prescription medications. There are rapid updates in innovation, and treatment regimens, exceeding >1200 points of change per year. While all these changes have led to improved patient care, expectations have reached unattainable levels. Patients and healthcare professionals have many shared frustrations with the rapid change. Despite the frustrations, physicians have remained steadfast in thier service mission to deliver safe, high quality care.

MEDICAL CARE. Reminder of where we WERE, and where we are NOW.

Early 1900s

- 30% babies died in childbirth or before 1 year of age

- Experimental care, limited standards

- Rare display of transparency, Rare patient knowledge of disease or harm events

- Shared connection through hope/despair

- Healthcare was cherished support when available

NOW

- 341 million poeple in US

- 155 million ER visits per year; 99.5% of ER visits/hospitalizations survive and discharge

- 99.5% of babies survive to 1 year

- Transparency and documentation of harm events; Elevated patient knowledge and easy access to information

- People are surviving disease

- Transactional/Expensive

- Healthcare is an expected service

The medical liability crisis of 1970s resulting in mass exodus of physicians from healthcare and increased healthcare costs. In 1970s, physicians and healthcare organizations had goal of improving safety and quality through transparency. Transparency of sharing data and analyzing outcomes. Although healthcare became exponentially better, litigation increased 500% leading to healthcare being uninsured by commercial markets. While some physicians left healthcare, others formed mutual insurance companies with their own money to support the continuation of patient care.

We are now in another crisis. While most hospitals and physician groups self insure themselves or through mutuals, a singular nuclear verdict can lead to bankruptcy of a group of patients or an entire hospital. This results in disuprtion of care to THOUSANDS of patients.

CONSEQUENCES

- Financial strain on healthcare. Excessive verdicts deplete funds intended for patient care and lead to expensive defensive medicine

- Reduced access to care. Early retirements, career changes, and narrower specialties. Discomfort with offering advice outside of the specialty.

- Increased state expenses. States are supporting healthcare and courts. The communities of patients are supporting their State through taxes. Verdicts and excessive liability claims increases the state’s expenses.

- Physician burnout and suicide. Physician shortages lead to increased workload, higher stress. The #1 cause of suicide is involvement with patient harm event or litigation claim. Each year, 5% of physicians & healthcare professionals are physically assaulted and 33% experience verbal/online/pyschological abuse as a result of patient care.

- Personal exposure to physicians and small hospitals. Physcians and hospitals are altruisticly working in complicated scenarios in high risk environoments every day. Hospitals employ millions of employees with various roles. Personal financial exposure results in loss of employment for community members.

SUPPORT legislation that is fair, reasonable and sustainable to patients and healthcare communities.

MINNESOTA BILL SF 3489

- Prevent Jury bias. Take measures to combat social inflation and avoid influencing jurors before a verdict.

- Fair economic damage. Ensure accurate assessment of medical expenses, future earnings.

- Caps on Non-economic damages. Pain/suffering is severely biased and subjective. All life is precious All patients come to healthcare with pain, suffering, or fear of disease. Unfortunate events happen in healthcare and outside of healthcare everyday. Healthcare and our communities cannot afford to pay for excessive amounts for selective pain/suffering. ACS (American College of Surgeons) recommends $250K cap, while a proposed cap of $500K in Minnesota aims for a fair and sustainable amount for pain/suffering.

- Protection for physicians and healthcare professionals. When a physician maintains liability insurance and there is NO malicious or willful intent, a plaintiff can not pursue or collect judgement on a providers personal income, or assets. Medical liability is our safety net to presevere care to patients. Without protections, a singular event can overshadow a whole career of dedication, altruism and service to thier community.

- Reducing statute from 4 years to 2 years. This puts reporting consistent with most states. Longer statutes lead to unfair trials due to lack of recall, and delay in resolution of harm events. In addition, if a patient is harmed, filing an early claim is essential to future care of other patients.

CONTACT your legislators (both state house and senate where you work and live. Email them SUPPORT for SF3489 regarding medical liability reform

Information for contacting legislators: www.leg.mn.gov