hadron, anyone feedback on federal tort

L

lalalala

Registered Users (C)
i work as a pediatrician for a CHC and take calls in two hospitals where there are regularly premature deliveries which we cover for 1-2 hours before the infant can be airlifted. Unfortunately the nurseries are only regular newborn nurseries and we don<t have good nurses, so there is a lot af risk and liability involved.
1.I want to know how comforting it is to be covered under federal tort
2. does the federal tort cover me when i am covering these deliveries

feedback appreciated
thanks
 
- are you practicing on an indian reservation, or why do you think your medical liability is governed by federal law ?

- your liability is governed by the law of the state you are practicing in. Look at their regulations. CA and a couple of other states have caps on punitive damages, but you are still liable for actual damage. In cases involving newborns, it's the actual damage (lost lifetime income, medical expenses) that frequently outrun malpractice policies.

- what type of malpractice coverage do you have at this time ? Does your policy cover you outside of your practice in the CHC ?

- examine your contract. Check whether your employment contract obliges you to cover these nurseries. Do you need admitting priviledges at both hospitals ? You have no existing doctor-patient relationship with these kids, unless the constellation of your employment contract and the hospitals call-regulations compel you otherwise, you have no obligation to take care of these patients.

- if you believe that it is unsafe and a violation of the standard of care to attend deliveries at these hospitals, write up your complaints and send them to the medical board of the hospital. It won't 'save' you from liability, but it allways helps to drag as many people down with you as possible (if you can implicate the 8 board members in the case, the combined coverage of yours and their policies might allow you to cover the 10mil verdict without your personal assets beeing at risk.

- make sure to employ a good asset protection strategy. If you have a house, make sure it is exclusively in your spouses name etc.
 
thanks a lot for your reply, my employer tells me that the federal malpractice covers me in hospital( so that is better as the tort caps the lawsuits plus its fought in the federal court)
your suggestion about telling the medical board is good and right but its a very political place and the side effect is that i will end up antagonizing the powerful OB lobby , i am caught between bad and ugly. i did briefly talk with the risk mangement in the hospital and i have fully documented and written about it to my CHC( although they dont care )
 
error


> i did briefly talk with the risk mangement in the hospital and i have
> fully documented and written about it to my CHC( although
> they dont care )

Every time you have a dicey case, write it up and send it to risk management. Point out the institutional shortcomings that make you believe that this is a case that might spur litigation.
 
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well i dont work in a indian reservation area , its a CHC ( partly federally funded) but the hospital is not in a medically underserved area , so u think that the even if the CHC physicians are covered under the federal tort , when we see hospital pts we are not covered
 
What is 'federal tort' ?

Do you mean coverage under the FTCA ? This will apply to patients you see at the CHC. Be sure to be covered through a commercial policy if you treat patients at the hospital who are not CHC patients.

How do you bill for the nursery coverage provided at the hospital ?
 
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1.yes i mean FTCA
2. i do share call with other private pediatricians in the community and cover there babies and walk in pts when i am on call.
3. i bill for them but the CHC gets paid, i dont get paid extra for any hospital work , just my basic salary for 40/week.
 
Go on the website of the office of primary healthcare access and contact the regional FTCA coordinator. Explain the situation to them, and make clear that these are not CHC patients and that the services are billed at a regular rate. If they tell you that you are covered, you should be ok. If they tell you that you aren't (due to private billing), the CHC will have to buy insurance for you.

Still leaves the question whether you should do this kind of high-risk work in the first place. Do you really need priviledges at both hospitals ?
 
the CHC people want me to cover two hospitals, i will try to get in touch with regional FTCA ,
also in response to the other question u had written that one can take leave for one year ( for NIW) so during this time can i work anywhere else as long as i get Hi visa from the employer or what( i rather not use my EAD) or the only option will be to use EAD
 
I don't know about the regulations regarding the completion of your NIW. From what you are telling me, your practice location doesn't seem to be so great to go out on your own. Maybe you would be better off getting yourself a job with a big multispecialty practice in the midwest to obtain a GC via the PERM labor cert route.
 
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