Reform Works for Texas- Reform Works for Williamson County
September 25, 2009
Here are the facts: medical malpractice reforms mean increased access to care as more doctors come to Texas.
In Williamson County specifically, more than 181 doctors have come to practice here since reforms were passed in 2003. This growth has created opportunities for 414,000 more patient visits per year and had a direct economic impact of $64.4 million in our community. Additions to our local healthcare community include 92 anesthesiologists, 79 internists, 33 family medicine doctors, 9 general surgeons and 9 emergency medicine physicians. They have added 30 pediatricians, 14 obstetricians, 9 cardiologists, 5 orthopedic surgeons and 5 gastroenterologists.
Reforms in Texas have helped our senior citizens as the number of geriatrician specialists has doubled in the last seven years. The poor are primary beneficiaries of the state’s legal reforms. The emergency rooms are better staffed and the liability savings have permitted hospitals to render more than twice as much charity care on a cost basis than they did prior.
Bottom line: reforms work: protecting our senior citizens, our poor and everyone’s access to quality care.
Copyright
2010