6
University Daily Kansan
Campus/Area
Friday, Nov. 8, 1985
Committee to act on malpractice
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — The Legislature's special intercommittee studying the problems of high medical malpractice insurance rates made some decisions yesterday on its recommendations to the 1986 session, but delayed action on the toughest choices facing it until today.
The hard decisions involve whether to set limits on the amount of damage awards in malpractice cases and whether to reduce the ceiling on the maximum payment that can be made from the state's Health Care Stabilization Fund in malpractice cases.
The legal community is strongly opposed to any caps on damage awards, while the medical community is pressing for such limitations because it believes they will help hold the line on or reduce malpractice insurance premiums.
The committee reviewed and approved its proposals on requiring hospitals and other health care facilities to report instances of suspected malpractice to the state Board of Healing Arts, and setting guidelines on awarding attorney fees.
Also reviewed was the setting of interest rates in structured settlements, requiring pre-trial settlement conferences to try to avoid going to trial, strengthening peer review of doctors and other health care providers, and requiring screening panels to judge the
merits of malpractice claims before lawsuits are filed.
Rep. Koe Knoop, R-Manhattan, said that the committee agreed in general with everything brought before it so far, but that the real controversies would come up today when the caps are being considered.
The committee meets again Nov. 21-22 to give final approval to all its proposals and to the report it sends to the 1836 Legislature convening in January.
One proposed bill given committee endorsement would require all licensed health care facilities to report to the Board of Healing Arts any cases of alleged medical malpractice that they deem legitimate following an in-house hearing.
Failure to report such cases could result in the facility having its license revoked or suspended by the Department of Health and Environment and a fine levied of $1,000 a day for each day the incident is not reported within 30 days after a determination is made of the seriousness of the case.
Sen Jack Steineger, D-Kansas City, said the requirement could end what the legal profession has called a "conspiracy of silence" on the part of physicians and hospitals to protect themselves.
The proposal approved on guidelines for approving attorneys fees in medical malpractice cases does not limit those fees as to dollar amounts. However, it would establish guidelines for judges to follow in approving how much of the judgments lawyers get to keep.
By Jill White Of the Kansan staff
Education gets good grades
The School of Education received favorable reports on its preliminary review by the Kansas Department of Education, school officials said yesterday.
Jerry Bailey, associate dean of teacher education, said the accreditation review team gave a generally positive review in its oral report on Wednesday.
"We found some standards that were not being met and some standards that were being met with some weaknesses, but we also found some strengths," Ervay said. "That's typical of every visit. I don't think
The 23-member review team, which comprises educators from across Kansas and is headed by Stuart Ervay, director of the Center for Educational Research and Service at Emporia State University, was on campus Monday through Wednesday. Ervay read selected reviews by team members to about 35 KU faculty members and administrators at the noon meeting.
there are going to be any problems with any of the programs."
The report given on Wednesday was only a preliminary review designed to give the University an overview of the team's assessment. Ervay said it would take several months for the reviews of each member to be compiled into an official review.
KU's School of Education will have the opportunity to write a formal response to the review. KU's response and the review will be sent to the State Board of Education in Topeka where a committee will determine which programs are eligible for certification.
Paul Haack, acting dean of education, said the oral review cited some strengths of KU's programs as well. "The areas which needed 'fine tump'."
He declined to indicate which programs received attention because, he said, the report was preliminary.
"They reviewed over 100 different areas in the content of different fields and different levels," Haack said. "There were only two or three areas where I worry about anything more than fine tuning."
The school spent about a year preparing a a,1000-page report for the review process. The review team then spent three days on campus comparing KU's report to their findings and to the standards outlined in the State Board of Education's handbook of regulations.
Ervay said the review team would compile a document with one page for each standard. The document would indicate whether KU's report was valid and whether the programs complied with the standards.
The document would describe weaknesses based on the evidence the team members collected through interviews and documents. And it would make recommendations on how to meet the standards and how to strengthen the weaknesses.
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