Suchergebnisse

Why you should read this book / Sally C. Morton and John E. Rolph -- School-based drug prevention : challenges in designing and analyzing social experiments / Robert M. Bell and Phyllis L. Ellickson -- The health insurance experiment : design using the finite selection model / Carl N. Morris and Jennifer L. Hill -- Counting the homeless : sampling difficult populations / Allan F. Abrahamse -- Periodicity in the global mean temperature series? / John L. Adams, James K. Hammitt, and James S. Hodges -- Racial bias in death sentencing : assessing the statistical evidence / Sally C. Morton and John E. Rolph -- Malpractice and the impaired physician : an application of matching / Kimberly A. McGuigan and John E. Rolph -- Supply delays for F-14 jet engine repair parts : developing and applying effective data graphics / Lionel A. Galway -- Hospital mortality rates : comparing with adjustments for case mix and sample size / Neal Thomas and John E. Rolph -- Eye-care supply and need : confronting uncertainty / Daniel A. Relles, Catherine A. Jackson, and Paul P. Lee -- Modeling block grant formulas for substance abuse treatment / Daniel F. McCaffrey and John L. Adams

"No‐fault" automobile insurance plans are designed to supplant the tort system by requiring motorists to purchase no‐fault insurance and allowing victims to file liability insurance claims and tort suits only if their injuries exceed a legislated "tort threshold." While thresholds vary among states, many are satisfied if the victim incurs medical expenses as low as a few hundred dollars. Using insurance claims data, we estimate the effectiveness of several states' thresholds. We find that tort thresholds are surprisingly effective: modest tort thresholds reduce the number of successful tort claimants by half, and the strictest thresholds may exclude nine‐tenths of potential claimants. Moreover, we find little evidence of claimants "padding" their claims to exceed the dollar thresholds.

To describe the malpractice environment as it relates to defensive medicine, the authors studied omission-related claims from a large physician-owned malpractice insurer covering 70 percent of physicians in a northeastern state. During a 12-year period (1977-1989), claims resulting from alleged diagnostic omissions were considered important in less than 9 percent of claims and of central importance in 4 percent. Compared with other claim types, omission-related claims were more likely to be paid, had a higher median payment, and were more often associated with significant patient injury or death; the association with more frequent payments remained after controlling for physician specialty, geographic region, and degree of patient injury. Malpractice claims alleging diagnostic and monitoring omissions are relatively uncommon but appear difficult to defend relative to other claim types. Taken in light of the changing health care environment, these results highlight the limits of defensive medicine and support an expanded focus for medical liability reform.

Front matter -- Preface -- Contents -- Tables, Figures, and Boxes -- Executive Summary -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Firearms and Ammunition: Physics, Manufacturing, and Sources of Variability -- 3 Firearms Identification and the Use of Ballistic Evidence -- 4 Current Ballistic Imaging Technology -- 5 Current Ballistic Image Databases: NIBIN and the State Reference Databases -- 6 Operational and Technical Enhancements to NIBIN -- 7 Three-Dimensional Measurement and Ballistic Imaging -- 8 Experimental Evidence on Sources of Variability and Imaging Standards -- 9 Feasibility of a National Reference Ballistic Image Database -- 10 Microstamping: Alternative Technology for Tracing to Point of Sale -- 11 Best Standards for Future Developments in Computer-Assisted Firearms Identification -- References -- Appendix A Gun Enforcement and Ballistic Imaging Technology in Boston -- Appendix B Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff.