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Communications The PIAA Communications Department plays a vital role in keeping our members informed about leading issues facing the healthcare liability industry. Major communications vehicles include the quarterly magazine, The Physician Insurer and a weekly fax newsletter, PIAA Newsbriefs; and an Internet website. The Association also published numerous industry related publications. Recent publications include the following: PIAA Medication Errors Symposium White Paper, Laparoscopic Injury Study, and the PIAA Medical Malpractice Insurance Primer. The PIAA also issues press releases in support of its risk management and advocacy programs and gains placement in the national press in articles relevant to its members and the PIAA mission.
Duane Castles - National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) The PIAA organized and led a coalition of insurance and health industry organizations responsible for blocking new Data Bank rules which would have focused insurers to replace the court system in identifying individual practitioners to be reported to the Data Bank. The PIAA worked with Members of Congress to instigate a General Accounting Office review of NPDB operations, questioning its departure from its statutory mission and large monetary surplus. Duane Castles - Health Care Liability Alliance The PIAA, individually and through its leadership of the Health Care Liability Alliance, has led a successful campaign to keep federal healthcare liability reform on the radar screen of Congress. Meaningful tort reforms, to include a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages, have passed the House of Representatives six times in the past five years and were under serious consideration in the Senate during the Patient's Bill of Rights debate in 2000. Duane Castles The PIAA was the only organization to measure the costs of repealing the ERISA preemption that would be borne by physicians and other healthcare provides. & nbsp; Duane Castles
The Association, armed with actuarial data, conducted a successful educational campaign to inform providers, the insurance industry and Members of Congress about this issue. The PIAA successfully lobbied for changes to the Y2K Act that would have exposed healthcare providers to personal injury liability due to Y2K failure, but could have limited their ability to recover damages from manufacturers of malfunctioning devices and equipment. Duane Castles The PIAA has closely tracked privacy legislation and regulations to identify issues unique to professional liability insurers, such as those pertaining to the sharing of confidential medical information used in the administration of malpractice claims. Our formal comments have been submitted to Congress and are under consideration. Original research performed by the PIAA served as the catalyst for the Congressional Budget Office to score the effects of adopting tort reforms on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, once thought to be impossible to accomplish. Duane Castles
Duane Castles - Risk Management & Research The PIAA continues to maintain the PIAA Data Sharing Project, which now has detailed data over 170,000 medical and dental malpractice claims. In addition to standard periodic reports, numerous special analyses are performed each year for PIAA members regarding special areas of concern which are used in risk management, claims administration and underwriting deliberations. Duane Castles The Association published a new products, Claim Trends, using information reported to the PIAA Data Sharing Project. This data, both aggregate and detailed, is helpful to members in establishing payment trends and assisting in reserving analyses. The PIAA also participated in collaborative risk management research studies with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American College of Radiology, the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, the American Academy of Dermatology, and the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy. Duane Castles The Association held special fact-finding symposiums regarding the liability aspects of telemedicine and medication errors, the latter being co-sponsored by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Duane Castles - Insurance Regulations The PIAA monitors activities of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to represent the unique interests of its members. Members are kept informed of pending regulatory changes which may affect their businesses. Duane Castles
The PIAA was very successful in demonstrating changes necessary to the Property and Casualty Risk Based Capital formula to properly address claims-made insurance reserves. The Association also successfully lobbied for a risk-based capital exemption for single state writers. Duane Castles - Amicus Briefs The PIAA participated in a number of amicus briefs to support state-based cases where tort reforms may be threatened. Duane Castles - Antitrust Policy The PIAA is an industry trade association dedicated to furthering the interests of its members in areas related to professional liability. The Association contemplates involvement in educational, legislative, regulatory and loss prevention endeavors. In undertaking this involvement, the Association has had a long standing and important policy to comply fully with all laws applicable to its operations and the operations of its members. Duane Castles
Compliance with the antitrust laws has been and remains a fundamental part of this policy. This policy acknowledges that members should be able to compete vigorously and ethically, but always in compliance with the laws of the United States, including the antitrust laws. The Association intends to comply with such laws and to operate in accordance with the highest moral, ethical and legal standards. It supports those efforts of its membership to compete fairly and believes that the economy, the public, and the Association's members will benefit most if businesses compete vigorously, free from unreasonable restraints. Duane Castles To this end, the Association undertakes, and encourages all members to undertake, to conduct its and their affairs free of any action or intent to influence competition or otherwise control free trade. Members of the PIAA are asked to adhere to this policy with respect to all of their interactions with the Association, including their attendance at meetings and participation in other Association sponsored functions. & nbsp; &n bsp; &nb sp; Duane Castles
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