Healthcare is currently undergoing a metamorphosis marked by consolidation within and across all sectors. Hospitals are acquiring other hospitals, physician practices and insurance businesses. Medical providers are testing “accountable care” practices while simultaneously operating traditional fee-for-service models. Health insurers continue to consolidate and grow, claiming that mergers are necessary because of the growing market power of hospitals.
The breadth of these changes has drawn the attention of federal anti-trust regulators. Yet, even under the scrutiny of federal regulators, consolidation continues unabated. Instead of full-blown mergers, hospitals continue to consolidate in a range of affiliations and partnerships. There are multiple examples across the country where hospitals that have historically been competitors have now joined forces under these non-merger agreements.
In addition to consolidation, the tradition fee-for-service model is being phased out. The days of the solo practitioner will likely soon be gone forever. The reasons for these changes are multi-factorial, but include passage of the Affordable Care Act and a new emphasis on integrated care.
What do these changes mean for personal injury attorneys and medical malpractice practitioners? One of the most obvious changes for lawyers will be increasing difficulty communicating with physicians. The difficulty lawyers have interacting with their clients’ physicians is very high on the list of attorney frustrations.
In any personal injury lawsuit, the plaintiff must prove the nature and extent of their injuries. To meet this burden of proof, plaintiffs’ have historically relied upon their clients’ doctors’ testimony that the treatments they provided were required to treat injuries caused by defendants’ negligence. However, for years larger institutions have been making it more difficult for attorneys to communicate with their clients’ physicians. Ongoing consolidation in the healthcare industry means that this will continue.
Healthcare consolidation will make prosecuting medical malpractice claims exponentially more difficult. Medical malpractice claims always require physician testimony. In fact, lawyers cannot move forward without a qualified physician who is willing to testify. Finding qualified doctors willing to testify against their colleagues is already a very difficult task.
When solo or small physicians become extinct, and a few hospitals employ all the doctors, finding an expert willing to testify will become next to impossible. What is to prevent the emerging healthcare monoliths from prohibiting their employees from providing testimony in medical malpractice cases? Absent doctors willing to testify, there will be not medical malpractice claims.
