Profession
Report: Liability expenses for Pa. hospitals topped $600 million in 2004
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted May 23, 2005
Pennsylvania hospitals reported spending $636 million on liability expenses during the 2004 fiscal year, according to a report the state's Health Care Cost Containment Council released in early May.
About two-thirds of the 182 general acute-care hospitals in the state self-insure, with many facilities changing their liability coverage strategy since 2002, according to the report.
Costs varied significantly across the state, according to the report. Hospitals near Philadelphia, for example, reported liability expenses at a rate that was more than double what hospitals near Pittsburgh reported.
Roger F. Mecum, executive vice president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, said the statistics were only "the tip of the iceberg," because the report did not include liability costs for physicians and other health professionals.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/05/23/prbf0523.htm.
