Dive Brief:

• The Oakland, CA-based medical liability insurer MIEC has embarked upon a pilot project offering 60 of its orthopedic surgeon policy holders HealthLoop, a patient communication tool, for free for 18 months. The insurer is banking on the fact that patients are less likely to sue physicians if there is good communication between the two parties.
• HealthLoop is a tool that will allow physicians to check in with patients prior to surgery through phone call, text or email. It allows providers to offer instructions like remembering to elevate their leg and allows patients to report unusual symptoms. According to an article in Forbes, physicians are more likely to face lawsuits if they don't return patients' calls.
• Orthopedic surgery has one of the highest rates of lawsuits, according to the Physician Insurers Association of America. According to an article in Forbes, MIEC spends nearly 2% of its premiums defending about 100 orthopedic claims each year.

Dive Insight:

If communication is a driver in medical malpractice suits, then this kind of tool could be an answer. Specialists, in particular, tend to lose track of patients after treatment and are often blindsided by lawsuits, according to the 2013 Medscape Medical News Malpractice Report. The report found that 75% of physicians surveyed were completely surprised that they were being sued. About one-third of the physicians reported being sued for incorrect diagnoses and 17% for not treating an illness. The remaining cited other reasons for the suit, including issues that could be remedied by communication, like not being contacted about a diagnosis after missing a follow-up appointment.