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Liability Implications of Physician-Directed Care Coordination

¹ Wake Forest University School of Law, Winston-Salem, NC
² Department of Family and Community Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Mark A. Hall, JD, Wake Forest University School of Law, Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7206, mhall{at}law.wfu.edu

PURPOSE Various public and private initiatives encourage physicians to coordinate care for patients who have multiple chronic conditions, but physicians may resist doing so for fear of liability. This article assesses the extent of liability risk.

METHODS This qualitative study combines legal research with key informant interviews. Relevant legal authorities were identified through literature searches in legal databases. In-depth interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 16 key informants who have relevant expertise in malpractice insurance, risk management, or liability law. Additionally, 19 other participants with relevant experience in case management or managed care were briefly queried about their liability experience relating to care management.

RESULTS Some aspects of care coordination for patients with multiple chronic conditions hold potential for higher liability. Physicians coordinating care have a broader responsibility for patients with complex conditions who have a greater chance of poor outcomes. Care coordinators may be held to a higher standard of care by adopting best practices guidelines or by making medical decisions on issues that require specialized expertise. Other aspects, however, lower liability risk: elderly patients are less likely to sue, care coordination should improve outcomes, and the information systems that support enhanced care coordination target the major sources of medical error in primary care. On balance, the liability risks of care coordination are commensurate with other risks in primary care practice. Liability insurers indicated no reluctance to insure physicians who coordinate care for patients with multiple chronic conditions and no strong tendency to attribute higher risk to this role. Physicians who currently perform these or similar functions have not encountered demonstrably higher liability.

CONCLUSIONS Physicians’ perceptions about the liability risks of coordinating care for patients with multiple chronic conditions do not match evidence about the factors actually driving liability. It appears from many informed sources that there is no strong basis for physicians who perform these functions to have serious concerns about liability; instead, care coordination done well may lower liability risks.

Key Words: Primary care • case management • disease management • liability, legal

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