The high cost of medical malpractice insurance is a leading reason cited by new doctors for leaving Pennsylvania when their training is finished, according to a new survey. More than three-quarters of the medical residents surveyed said they planned to leave Pennsylvania, and almost half of those doctors said the cost of liability insurance was the reason for their departure. Resident physicians in high-risk fields such as general surgery and emergency medicine named malpractice costs as the reason for leaving the state three times more often than any other factor. It outranked concerns such as quality of life, living near their families and salary. The survey, part of the Project on Medical Liability in Pennsylvania funded by The Pew
Charitable Trusts, was published this month in Obstetrics and Gynecology. The statewide mail survey gathered responses from 360 residents nearing the end of their training in anesthesiology, emergency medicine, general surgery, obstetrics, orthopedics, and radiology-specialties that are among those affected most by rising liability costs and pressures.