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Thursday, May 12, 2005Last year, Medical Economics' Web site featured this poll question: Have you reduced the scope of your practice because of malpractice concerns? An overwhelming majority of physicians—72 percent—said, "Yes, I'm afraid to do anything but the basics," while another 8 percent said, "Yes, but only because my carrier made me." A mere 20 percent said, "No, I refuse to worry about that." These results gibe with the findings of a 2002 Harris Poll in which physicians, nurses, and hospital administrators were asked about the impact of liability concerns on testing, treatment, and referrals. In that survey, 79 percent of physician respondents said that they order more tests than they would "based only on professional judgment of what is medically needed." Some 74 percent said they are more apt to refer patients to specialists; 51 percent said that they suggest more biopsies than they deem necessary; and 41 percent prescribe antibiotics and other medications against their better judgment. (Physicians were allowed to choose more than one response.) posted by Sydney on 5/12/2005 09:28:00 PM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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