Article

Caring for Patients in a Malpractice Crisis: Physician Satisfaction, the Physician-Patient Relationship, and Quality of Care

Torts & Products Liability Law eJournal 08/2004;

ABSTRACT The rhetoric of malpractice reform is at fever pitch, but political advocacy does not necessarily reflect grassroots opinion. To determine whether the ongoing liability crisis has significantly reduced physicians' professional satisfaction, we surveyed specialist physicians in Pennsylvania. We find widespread discontent among physicians practicing in high-liability environments, which seems to be compounded by other financial and administrative pressures. Opinion alone should not determine public policy, but physicians' perceptions matter for two reasons. First, perceptions influence behavior with respect to practice environment and clinical decision-making. Second, perceptions influence the physician-patient relationship and the interpersonal quality of care.

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Keywords

administrative pressures
 
fever pitch
 
financial
 
grassroots opinion
 
high-liability environments
 
malpractice reform
 
ongoing liability crisis
 
perceptions influence behavior
 
physicians' perceptions matter
 
physicians' professional satisfaction
 
public policy
 
specialist physicians
 
widespread discontent