THE VALUED VOICE

The Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund ("Fund") Board approved at its December meeting a 30 percent reduction in Fund assessments on health care providers for the upcoming year. This is the fifth reduction in Fund fees over the past five years.

In 2016, the Wisconsin Council on Medical Education and Workforce, Inc. (WCMEW) produced a report focusing on current and future physician supply in Wisconsin and policy implications and recommendations to help ensure Wisconsin’s physician workforce supply can meet Wisconsin’s patient demand. Maintaining a balanced medical malpractice system in Wisconsin was identified as a key policy factor impacting Wisconsin’s ability to have a physician workforce supply that meets patient demands.

"The malpractice environment in particular is a factor impacting retention and in-migration [of physicians] that can be most readily impacted by policy decisions," states the WCMEW report. "Just as surveys show that a state’s litigation environment is an important factor in the decisions businesses make when deciding where to locate, a state’s medical liability environment affects physician decisions to practice in a particular state."

"Wisconsin must maintain those policies and characteristics in which Wisconsin is comparatively more attractive as a place to practice medicine," the WCMEW report states. "One of the often-mentioned reasons for physicians relocating to Wisconsin is our malpractice environment. Over time, Wisconsin’s Legislature has worked to maintain that advantage over other states by preserving Wisconsin’s comprehensive and balanced medical malpractice system. That base of stability has enabled Wisconsin to proactively focus on additional efforts to add new physicians to Wisconsin."