FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Samantha O'Lenick or Stacy Heckman
October 30, 2002 - Orlando, FL - Joseph Portoghese, a surgeon with Surgical Associates of Winter Park, never thought twice when he was paged in the middle of the night to perform emergency surgery on a patient in need. "I love my patients," said Portoghese. "And if it means getting up at 2 a.m. to come to the hospital to perform a life-saving surgery, I’d gladly do it."
But as of December 31, Portoghese and the rest of his six-person surgical group will be forced to close their practice because their insurance policy has expired.
"We’re devastated that our insurance policy will not be renewed next year," said Portoghese. "But without medical liability insurance, we cannot practice. Although I love my patients and what I do, going bare is not an option."
In an effort to help physicians who are in a similar situation, The Adventist Health System, which owns Florida Hospital, is attempting to provide additional access for physicians to obtain medical liability insurance.
The program, started by Memorial Healthcare System (located in South Florida), in conjunction with Aon Risk Services, is called Physicians Professional Liability Risk Retention Group (PPLRRG). The company’s goal is to provide physicians with an option to obtain medical liability insurance when they are faced with issues such as their insurance company leaving the state, or raising their rates to an exorbitant amount.
"Our practice sees more than 6,000 new patients a year," said Portoghese. "We plan to fill out an application for this new program and we are hopeful that we will qualify. If we do not, it terrifies me to think about what this will mean to our community if we have to close our practice."
"During a time when the medical community is facing such a huge insurance crisis, Florida Hospital is very pleased to be able to offer our physicians this option so they can continue to practice in the hospital system," said Rich Reiner, Florida Hospital Executive Vice President. "We feel that this is a better option for the doctors than going bare or practicing without insurance."
The program requires physicians to make a one time capital contribution to the company, which will provide ownership privileges in the program. The contribution amount is determined by the group and is based on the physician’s area of practice, individual claims and practice history.
"Think of this program like buying stock in a start-up company," said Reiner. "The physicians buy into the company with a one-time investment and then hopefully when the company reaches a sustainable size, the doctors may receive dividends. In the meantime, this insurance company will provide physicians with market rate coverage, which will allow them to continue doing what they love, which is caring for their patients."
PPLRRG will initially limit the amount of Adventist Health System staff doctors who are eligible to join the group to around 500, but would increase that number as the company grows.
For more information, please contact Florida Hospital Media Relations at (407) 303-1917.
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This release is located
on the Internet at: http://www.floridahospital.org/