LEGISLATION ADDRESSES PATIENT
SAFETY
Patient safety legislation, promoted in part because of
Charles Cullen’s confession that he killed 40 patients in
New Jersey and Pennsylvania hospitals, gained approval in
the Senate on March 29, 2004. Technically, the changes
proposed by this new bill, S-527, already exists in
current law but is rarely followed by hospitals. Hospitals
fear that they may be sued by admitting to mistakes. The new
legislations, titled The Patient Safety Act, will require
hospitals to report preventable errors that causes the death
of a patient or disables a patient for a week or longer to
both. The report will be sent to patients and state
regulators, but the information cannot be used in lawsuits.
It also encourages hospital employees to file anonymous
reports on less serious errors and “near misses.”
This bill could help in investigations that may catch any
further serial killers operating in hospitals, by listing
patterns of medical overdosing. Also, this legislation will
enable hospitals and medical professionals to learn from
mistakes and make hospitals safer places.
The Senate also voted on the medical malpractice bill,
A-50 with amendments that were made in the Senate
Health, Human Services and Senior Issues Committee.
Regarding the creation of a multi million dollar fund to
subsidize medical malpractice premiums for doctors, the
amendments changed the fee that will be charged to
professionals – doctors and lawyers from $50 to $75 annually
for the three year period, but left alone the $3 fee for all
New Jersey employees. The employee fee are charges to the
employers.
It also amended the “Good Samaritan” immunity to not
diminish a general hospital’s responsibility to comply with
all Department of Health and Senior Services requirements
concerning medical staff availability at the hospital, and
deletes the language providing that the immunity will not
apply if a hospital has not reasonably and adequately
staffed its emergency room.
It also restored language that was deleted from the bill
that passed the General Assembly regarding the prohibition
on premium increases based on a claim of medical negligence
or malpractice. In other words, insurance companies cannot
increase premiums on doctor’s malpractice policies if the
doctor is dismissed from a lawsuit within 180 days of the
filing.
The A-50 amendments made changes in the
distribution of monies that would be distributed from the
Medical Malpractice Liability Insurance Premium Assistance
Fund, and gives that Commissioner of Banking and Insurance
emergency rulemaking authority for the Fund. It will also
continue to provide assistance to practitioners for
reimbursement of student loans.
However, it still does not address the issue that doctors
have tried for the last year; to pass legislation that
limits liability for non-economic damages called “caps.
These two bills can be found on
www.njleg.state.nj.us/
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