News Briefs

National kudos for communication excellence

Last month, ISMIE Mutual was named the 2007 national recipient of the Institute for Healthcare Communication (IHC) Program Partner Award. This distinction is based on ISMIE’s outstanding commitment to improving clinician-patient communication.

IHC stated that for 30 years ISMIE has been “… a strong partner with Illinois physicians in
improving patient care and reducing liability risk,” and is “… a leading provider of risk management education as a service both to its insured healthcare professionals and to the improvement of patient care.”

Currently, an ISMIE staff of 10 provides communication workshops for physicians and medical office staff across Illinois. ISMIE is honored to receive this award!

Frivolous hijinks in Florida

The pursuit of frivolous lawsuits in Florida has sunk lower than the depths of the Everglades, apparent in a personal injury lawyer’s recent advertisement suggesting that people who have heart attacks in public places should sue others for liability.

According to an American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) news release dated September 6, that kind of mentality helps make certain counties in Florida, “…the collective judicial hellhole they are.” South Florida is ranked second in ATRA’s 2006 Judicial Hellholes® report. Cook, Madison and St. Clair counties in Illinois are ranked four, five and six, respectively. Read more at www.atra.org.

Grant aids reform law challenge

ISMIE Mutual’s partner in medical liability reform, the Illinois State Medical Society (ISMS), received a grant from the American Medical Association to support efforts to uphold Illinois’ reform law. ISMS is the first state medical society to receive an AMA grant in support of a constitutional challenge to an enacted reform law.