MARYLAND DOCS WEIGH GOING 'BARE:'

Doctors at several Maryland hospitals who are fed up with rising medical malpractice insurance costs are considering doing without the coverage, or “going bare.” The strategy, used by Florida physicians, tends to transfer liability risk to hospitals. Hospitals, like the doctors, would prefer a legislative solution. Physicians who work at Frederick Memorial Hospital raised the prospect of going bare when they voted recently to remove from their bylaws a requirement to carry malpractice insurance, The Frederick News-Post reported. Physicians from at least three other hospitals–Washington County Hospital, Prince George’s Hospital Center and Doctors Community Hospital in Lanham–also are considering going bare, said Michael Preston, executive director of MedChi, the state medical society. “It’s a reflection of the immediacy of the problem the doctors are facing in affording coverage for themselves, with the prospect for many of them, especially in high-risk specialties, of being driven out of business,” he said. In Florida, more than 3,000 physicians have dropped their malpractice coverage, according to health officials. The doctors typically transfer their assets to another party, such as a spouse, making them paupers on paper and unlikely to be sued. That increases the risk for hospitals that allow uninsured doctors to practice in their facilities, Preston said.