Insurer lauds drop in malpractice claims
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A decision by the state’s largest medical malpractice insurer to return $10.3 million to policyholders for a second straight year is part of a national movement to lower malpractice rates, according to insurers.
Physician-run Louisiana Medical Mutual Insurance Co.’s policyholders will see their base premiums lowered by an average of 2.8 percent in 2009. The reduction comes after five years when LAMMICO’s rates remained flat.
LAMMICO officials said state laws that lower the frequency of lawsuits and help control costs have helped stabilize rates. LAMMICO’s efforts to educate physicians through regularly scheduled risk-management seminars have also helped reduce claims, according to the company.
Insurers generally are seeing a decrease in the frequency of malpractice claims and their size, said Nina Akerly, spokeswoman for Boston-based ProSelect Insurance Co. Those reductions help lead to more-stable rates. For example, in early December ProSelect announced it would reduce rates for New Jersey physicians and surgeons by 11 percent and 7.5 percent for hospitals and other facilities.
LAMMICO spokesman David Bowser said the insurer’s seminars cover topics ranging from litigation stress management, to doctor-patient communication — research shows that in addition to affecting patient relations, communication also affects patient outcomes and malpractice risk.
More than half of LAMMICO’s policyholders attend the seminars, and the insurer recently launched the seminars online, he said.
LAMMICO also offers incentives to policyholders who have fewer malpractice claims.
Physicians who have been insured by the company for five years or more and whose claims amount to less than 25 percent of their premiums qualify for the “Good Experience Premium Credit” program. Bowser said more than 2,100 of the insurer’s 4,651 policyholders qualify for the program, which reduces premiums by 10 percent.
LAMMICO’s efforts and state laws that helped limit malpractice lawsuits helped reduce claim frequency by 11 percent from 2003 to 2007, the company said.
Physician-run Louisiana Medical Mutual Insurance Co.’s policyholders will see their base premiums lowered by an average of 2.8 percent in 2009. The reduction comes after five years when LAMMICO’s rates remained flat.
LAMMICO officials said state laws that lower the frequency of lawsuits and help control costs have helped stabilize rates. LAMMICO’s efforts to educate physicians through regularly scheduled risk-management seminars have also helped reduce claims, according to the company.
Insurers generally are seeing a decrease in the frequency of malpractice claims and their size, said Nina Akerly, spokeswoman for Boston-based ProSelect Insurance Co. Those reductions help lead to more-stable rates. For example, in early December ProSelect announced it would reduce rates for New Jersey physicians and surgeons by 11 percent and 7.5 percent for hospitals and other facilities.
LAMMICO spokesman David Bowser said the insurer’s seminars cover topics ranging from litigation stress management, to doctor-patient communication — research shows that in addition to affecting patient relations, communication also affects patient outcomes and malpractice risk.
More than half of LAMMICO’s policyholders attend the seminars, and the insurer recently launched the seminars online, he said.
LAMMICO also offers incentives to policyholders who have fewer malpractice claims.
Physicians who have been insured by the company for five years or more and whose claims amount to less than 25 percent of their premiums qualify for the “Good Experience Premium Credit” program. Bowser said more than 2,100 of the insurer’s 4,651 policyholders qualify for the program, which reduces premiums by 10 percent.
LAMMICO’s efforts and state laws that helped limit malpractice lawsuits helped reduce claim frequency by 11 percent from 2003 to 2007, the company said.
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