Newt Gingrich thought he’d start his party’s preparation for the Healthcare Summit by rustling up some fake statistics to support Republican’s favorite healthcare subject: tort reform. He did a great job too. His think tank, Center for Health Transformation, funded Jackson Healthcare, a healthcare management company, to direct a physician survey on defensive medicine costs. Their results: defensive medicine accounts for 26% of US healthcare costs annually, to the tune of $650 billion.

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There’s good news on the tort reform front. No, Republicans didn’t decide to constructively contribute to the healthcare reform discussion and pledge votes to a bill that included tort reform provisions. But medical malpractice insurance premiums have eased for the fourth straight year. Tort reform discussions are also shifting in a direction that can improve the doctor-patient relationship and increase the quality of patient care. Can this be a win-win for doctors and patients?

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Photo credit netochka // CC BY 2.0