Malpractice, tort reform, and you: an introduction to risk management

The current malpractice crisis has been called the "perfect storm". Doctors are finding practice costs unsustainable. Patients are finding access to care jeopardized. Cost of care is escalating. The system does not deter medical error, compensate most injured victims, produce any result quickly. These factors are creating enough of a crisis to urgently address and merit prompt solution. However, if history is any guide, the debate over malpractice will continue to rage. Reforms will likely be slow. Thus the practicing gastroenterologist, while working for or supporting efforts toward a solution, is well advised to keep up to date with the practice of gastroenterology, but also understand the medical legal matters and have a risk management strategy that will hopefully help keep the malpractice crisis a theoretical rather than personal concern. The following articles in this series are intended to help.