— especially specialists — would be shut out of work and would avoid or flee Texas. The patients are our No. 1 priority, and they’d ultimately suffer from lack of access to care,” he said.
Tort reform’s healthy benefits TMA President C. Bruce Malone, MD, says Texas patients’ ac- cess to care improved in many ways because of tort reform. He says Texas has more high-risk specialists in rural areas and more emergency medicine physicians overall. According to TAPA, Texas’ growth rate for newly licensed physicians in the past three years is 62 percent greater than in the three years preceding tort reform. The number of phy- sicians in El Paso more than tripled post-reform. San Anto- nio’s physician growth rate is 172-percent greater than before reform, and Houston has 124 percent more physicians since 2003. TAPA indicates Texas’ enhanced physician workforce has resulted in the opportunity for 2 million more patient visits per year than likely would have occurred with- out reform.
Brad Butler, MD, chair of the TMA Committee on Professional Liability and a Longview anesthe- siologist, says the influx of physi- cians to Texas has by far been the most obvious benefit of tort reform in Texas.
“Some rural and underserved
areas in Texas have been able to recruit and retain surgeons, emer- gency medicine physicians, and obstetricians they wouldn’t have been able to obtain without re- form,” he said. “Texas now has more physicians who are able to provide timely, quality care for patients.” Emergency medicine physicians
are so thrilled with tort reform they gathered at the state capitol in 2009 to announce a dramatic increase in access to emergency medical care. The Texas Depart- ment of State Health Services (DSHS), the Office of Rural Com- munity Affairs, the Texas Medical Board, and TAPA released data at the time showing an increase in board-certified emergency medi- cine physicians in Texas. Thirty- three rural counties had added at least one emergency medicine physician since 2003. In all, 76
counties — including 39 medically underserved counties — gained emergency medicine physicians. TAPA says tort reform also helped boost charity care. For instance, charity care at Texas hospitals rose 24 percent in the six years following passage of tort reform. Tort reform has reduced practice costs for physicians, too, making it possible to improve access to care. (See “Physicians Benefit From Lower Premiums,” below) Dr. Malone adds that before tort reform in Texas, money was “misdirected toward defending a large number of frivo- lous lawsuits. Those dollars are now being allocated toward enhancing technology at hospitals and toward improving pa- tient care.” Tort reform has cut surgical liability lawsuits at The Univer-
sity of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio by about 80 percent, according to researchers there. They studied surgical operation, risk management, and medical liability data from
Physicians benefit from lower premiums
The Texas Medical Liability Trust (TMLT), the largest physician insurer in Texas with more than 15,000 policyholders, has reduced rates eight times since 2003:
• 12 percent in 2004, • 5 percent in 2005 and 2006, • 7.5 percent in 2007, • 6.5 percent in 2008, • 4.7 percent in 2009, and, • 1 percent in 2010 and this year.
Effective Jan. 1, policyholders received a 24-percent dividend. As of August 2010, renewing policyholders reaped an approximate
savings of $634 million due to cumulative rate cuts, premium reductions, and dividends since 2003. TMLT’s claims intake is down, too. In 2003, the company received 2,880 claims. In 2010, claims dropped to 1,206. Physicians also enjoy overhead savings and the ability to recruit more
specialists trained in Texas and from out of state, thanks to tort reform. The Texas Medical Board (TMB) received 4,218 physician license applica- tions during fiscal year 2010 and issued 3,522 new licenses. TMB’s fiscal year runs Sept. 1 to Aug. 31. In 2003, TMB received only 2,561 applications and granted 2,513
licenses. Leigh Hopper, TMB public information officer, says TMB had issued 2,670 licenses from September 2010 to June 2011.
September 2011 TEXAS MEDICINE 15
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