ALPHARETTA, GA (March 16, 2010) - According to a recent online survey by Jackson Healthcare, 89 percent of physicians agree that patients receiving negligent treatment deserve fair compensation.
Negligence, they said, should be determined by a panel of experts from the appropriate medical specialty.
This key finding - one of several from the comprehensive study by Jackson Healthcare on physicians' practice of defensive or lawsuit-driven medicine - comes despite the fact that 92 percent of survey respondents, and 73 percent of respondents in a related Gallup Poll, report practicing defensive medicine.
More than 3,000 physicians from across the U.S. participated in the Jackson Healthcare Survey. The survey, which was conducted in December, 2009 and released on Feb. 24, 2010.
In both the survey and poll, physicians attributed a substantial percentage of healthcare costs to defensive medicine (34% in the survey and 26% in the poll). In light of a recent report from The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimating 2009 healthcare spending at $2.5 trillion, the physicians' estimates suggest that defensive medicine may inflate national annual healthcare spending by $650-$850 billion.
The findings suggest that an opportunity exists to save $6.5-$8.5 trillion over the next 10 years. "Traditional tort reform will not solve the defensive medicine problem. It may reduce malpractice costs, but until physicians are protected from being personally financially liable for unintended mistakes and omissions, they will continue ordering unnecessary tests and treatments to avoid lawsuits" said Richard L. Jackson, chairman and chief executive officer of Jackson Healthcare.
A Summary of Findings and survey methodology can be found in the Jackson Healthcare's online media room at http://www.jacksonhealthcare.com/online-media-room/.
For more information contact Bob Schlotman at 770-643-5697 at Jackson Healthcare.
About Jackson Healthcare
Founded by the healthcare innovator Richard Jackson, Jackson Healthcare serves more than two million patients in nearly one thousand hospitals each year. The Jackson family of companies provides physician and clinician staffing, anesthesia management, hospital management and healthcare information technology solutions proven to improve clinical and financial outcomes, as well as increase operational efficiency. Jackson Healthcare has earned national media coverage for its physician polls and champions local and international charitable work. In addition, Jackson has been recognized as one of the largest and fastest growing staffing companies in the country by the Inc. Magazine, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Georgia Trend and Staffing Industry Analysts. For more information about Jackson and its companies, visit http://www.jacksonhealthcare.com. Jackson's research reports are available online at http://www.jacksonhealthcare.com/online-media-room/healthcare-research/.