texas malpractice issues?

[tenkev]

I'm a CRNA student considering Texas when I'm done. I keep hearing that texas CRNA pay is so big because of, among other things, high rates of litigation driving up malpractice insurance. Does anyone have any info about the legal issues in texas for CRNAs?

Thanks

Tenkev

[Athlein1]

This link was helpful to me in learning about the legal pitfalls of practice in Texas. Take-home message: there are a lot of med-mal attorneys, they win big lawsuits, and the jury awards are huge. Better get umbrella coverage if you have any assets at all.

The money is great in the little towns if you don't mind call every two to four nights, poor payor mix, and older equipment (in most cases). In the desireable practices in the cities, you are often a technician and an anesthesia handmaiden. One very skilled CRNA I spoke with who took a job in one of the big practices actually admitted to me that she was instructed to keep her patients paralyzed and ventilated until the anesthesiologist could come to help her with emergence. No regionals, no OB. She lasted less than six months.

Any other students looking at Texas for jobs? I am starting to interview now and would like to compare notes...

http://www.perduelaw.com/faqs_.htm

[paytonsnana]

I'm a CRNA student considering Texas when I'm done. I keep hearing that texas CRNA pay is so big because of, among other things, high rates of litigation driving up malpractice insurance. Does anyone have any info about the legal issues in texas for CRNAs?

Thanks

Tenkev

Everything is bigger in Texas - including the lawsuits, number of professionals tunred into the board for petty stuff and the ones that are so incredibly incompentent go scott free. They are the ones that turn in the good ones. If I had a choice I would work almost anywhere but TX. malpractice insurance is high, but you have to have it. I would check out things such as Cost of living, insurance, pay scale shifts, hospitals, etc before you make the move. Good luck

[jwk]

Better get umbrella coverage if you have any assets at all.

Hmmmm, I'm not sure a personal liability umbrella policy would help you in a medical malpractice claim. Is there such a policy that would cover that?

[paytonsnana]

Hmmmm, I'm not sure a personal liability umbrella policy would help you in a medical malpractice claim. Is there such a policy that would cover that?

You need a medical malpractice policy directly related to the field you are in.

Personal liability most likely would not help, if you could find one it most likely would be far too expensive.

[Athlein1]

I can't say for sure whether personal liability covers a judgment of medical malpractice that exceeds the limits of an anesthesia provider's policy. I would expect not, in most cases. I can only speak to my own situation and follow the advice of my attorney, who asserts that I need that coverage because of my status as a corporation and my considerable liquid assets. In this instance, the "corporate veil" could easily be pierced by an astute plaintiff's attorney, in which case the personal and professional become very difficult to separate.

[air]

In Texas, everything is Texas size, hourly compensation and the jury awards.