The extent to which dentists influence the outcomes of dental care, compared to the effects of dental technology or patient variation, has not been well studied. A review of the literature on the personality and value structures of dentists and dental students reveals general trends involving preferences of concrete, utilitarian, unambiguous, and conventional situations that are classified and judged in terms of their potential for dentists' power and control and for relationships of helping others but avoiding mutual dependency. These findings are summarized in a hypothesis that dentists seek situations where they can exercise control and establish paternalistic relationships with others. The evidence about career satisfaction of dentists is difficult to interpret. Between 20 percent and 50 percent of dentists report that they would not choose to enter the profession again if given a chance. Yet the number leaving the profession voluntarily is less than the number of career changers in the general population by a factor of about 1 to 15. Career satisfaction of practitioners can be partially predicted from an understanding of dentists' personality and values. Factors such as uncooperative patients, incompetent staff, and government and insurance intrusions are major dissatisfiers; they threaten dentists' core need for control. Factors such as quality of work, which is under the control of dentists, are major satisfiers. The personalities and values of dentists and the expression of these in professional norms may function to limit our understanding of dentistry. Based on this analysis, eight predictions are offered about the profession. (+info)
The unbearable lightness of healthcare policy making: a description of a process aimed at giving it some weight.
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OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether a structured process to involve policy makers in designing a research project on a return to work insurance policy would yield evidence that was relevant, useful, and used in policy decisions. STUDY DESIGN: Case study. SETTING: Norway. PARTICIPANTS: Two researchers from the National Institute of Public Health and four representatives from respectively the National Insurance Administration, Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions, Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry, and Norwegian Medical Association. INTERVENTION: Structured discussions of the research, including the objectives, interventions, design, and interpretation of the results. RESULTS: The participants succeeded in designing and completing a cluster randomised controlled trial through the participatory process. Intermediary results from the trial have been used in practical planning within the National Insurance Administration, but there are few indications that the main results of the trial have been used. CONCLUSIONS: This approach of involving policy makers in the research planning process when political or organisational values are at stake did not succeed in this case. The salient explanations for this are conflicting interests of the organisations involved in the process and the research findings were in conflict with those interests. (+info)
What price medical malpractice insurance?
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The Medical Review and Advisory Board has been established as a committee of the Commission on Professional Welfare of the California Medical Association to make studies and recommendations toward solution of the growing problems of professional liability insurance and malpractice actions in California. The members of the Board are: Joseph F. Sadusk, Jr., Oakland, Chairman; Wilbur Bailey, M.D., Los Angeles, vice-chairman; Howard W. Bosworth, M.D., Los Angeles; H. I. Burtness, M.D., Santa Barbara; Paul W. Frame, Jr., M.D., Sacramento; Verne G. Ghormley, M.D., Fresno; Carl M. Hadley, M.D., San Bernardino; Joseph J. O'Hara, M.D., San Diego; William F. Quinn, M.D., Los Angeles; Rees B. Rees, M.D., San Francisco; and Bernard Silber, M.D., Redwood City; Mr. Rollen Waterson, 564 Market Street, San Francisco 4, is executive secretary, and Mr. Howard Hassard is legal counsel. (+info)
Genetic discrimination and the law.
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The use of genetic tests can lead to genetic discrimination, discrimination based solely on the nature of an individual's genotype. Instances of the discriminatory uses of genetic tests by employers and insurance companies have already been reported. The recently enacted Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), together with other federal and state laws, can be used to combat some forms of this discrimination. In this article we define and characterize genetic discrimination, discuss the applicability of the various relevant federal and state laws, including the ADA, in the areas of employment and insurance discrimination, explore the limitations of these laws, and, finally, suggest some means of overcoming these limitations. (+info)
Analysis of your professional liability insurance policy.
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The most important lessons for the physician to learn in regard to his professional liability insurance coverage are the following:1. The physician should carefully read his professional liability policy and should secure the educated aid of his attorney and his insurance broker, if they are conversant with this field.2. He should particularly read the definition of coverage and carefully survey the exclusion clauses which may deny him coverage under certain circumstances.3. If the physician is in partnership or in a group, he should be certain that he has contingent partnership coverage.4. The physician should accept coverage only from an insurance carrier of sufficient size and stability that he can be sure his coverage will be guaranteed for "latent liability" claims as the years go along-certainly for his lifetime.5. The insurance carrier offering the professional liability policy should be prepared to offer coverages up to at least $100,000/$300,000.6. The physician should be assured that the insurance carrier has claims-handling personnel and legal counsel who are experienced and expert in the professional liability field and who are locally available for service.7. The physician is best protected by a local or state group program, next best by a national group program, and last, by individual coverage.8. The physician should look with suspicion on a cancellation clause in which his policy may be summarily cancelled on brief notice.9. The physician should not buy professional liability insurance on the basis of price alone; adequacy of coverage and service and a good insurance company for his protection should be the deciding factors. (+info)
Inadequate follow-up for abnormal Pap smears in an urban population.
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PURPOSE: To determine the factors associated with inadequate follow-up for abnormal Pap smears among a cohort of Boston women from urban academic clinics. METHODS: Subjects were women > 18 years with abnormal cervical cytology between February 1999 and April 2000. Inadequate follow-up was defined as lack of subsequent cervical cytology or pathology specimen within four months of the initial abnormal specimen for high-grade lesions or within 7 months for low-grade lesions. RESULTS: Of the 423 subjects, the mean age was 33 years. Sixty percent were black, 23% Hispanic, 15% white, 2% Asian. The population was largely uninsured or publically insured. The overall inadequate follow-up rate was 38%. In bivariate analysis, age was a significant risk factor; 46% of women ages 18-29 had inadequate follow-up (p < 0.01). In multivariate analysis, women aged 18-29 years were more likely than women 50 years and older to have inadequate follow-up (OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.1-6.4), as were women with Medicaid insurance compared with private insurance (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.01-3.5). After 12 months, 26% of women with abnormal Pap smears still had not received follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: In a predominantly urban minority population, the overall rate of inadequate follow-up for abnormal Pap smears was high at 38%. Programs to address follow-up of abnormal cervical cytology should focus on minority populations, especially younger and all low-income women. (+info)
State legislative efforts to regulate use and potential misuse of genetic information.
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The purpose of this study was to review existing and proposed legislation specifically intended to regulate the collection, use, and potential misuse of genetic data. The study encompasses laws relating to confidentiality, informed consent, discrimination, and related issues. It excludes from consideration legislation relating to medical records generally that may bear indirectly on genetic information. It also excludes both legislation relating to the regulation of DNA data collection for law enforcement purposes and state laws relating to the confidentiality of data collected by newborn-screening programs. While relatively few laws that explicitly regulate the treatment of genetic information have been enacted to date, a considerable amount of activity is currently underway in the nation's legislatures. Although most of the bills under consideration are not comprehensive in scope, they reflect a growing societal awareness that the uncontrolled dissemination and use of genetic data entails significant risks. (+info)
Injuries associated with regional anesthesia in the 1980s and 1990s: a closed claims analysis.
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BACKGROUND: The authors used the American Society of Anesthesiologists Closed Claims Project database to identify specific patterns of injury and legal liability associated with regional anesthesia. Because obstetrics represents a unique subset of patients, claims with neuraxial blockade were divided into obstetric and nonobstetric groups for comparison. METHODS: The American Society of Anesthesiologists Closed Claims Project is a structured evaluation of adverse anesthetic outcomes collected from closed anesthesia malpractice insurance claims of professional liability companies. An in-depth analysis of 1980-1999 regional anesthesia claims was performed with a subset comparison between obstetric and nonobstetric neuraxial anesthesia claims. RESULTS: Of the total 1,005 regional anesthesia claims, neuraxial blockade was used in 368 obstetric claims and 453 of 637 nonobstetric claims (71%). Damaging events in 51% of obstetric and 41% of nonobstetric neuraxial anesthesia claims were block related. Obstetrics had a higher proportion of neuraxial anesthesia claims with temporary and low-severity injuries (71%) compared with the nonobstetric group (38%; P +info)