Rising Insurance Costs Burden Physicians
And Patients, Says Ob-Gyn Past President
DR. ROY T. PARKER
The average obstetrician-
gynecologist in the United States next
year will start out Jan. 1 with a
$20,000 liability insurance premium
hanging over his head before he ever
opens his office door.
The moundng cost of professional
liability insurance is one of the major
problems facing physicians and their
patients, who end up with the bulk of
the burden.
That thought was expressed this
week by Dr. Roy T. Parker on the eve
of his stepping down as president of
the American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists
(ACOG), a post he has held the past
year. Its membership includes 18,000
physicians and 14,000 nurses.
Catastrophic Illness Insurance
Parker, chairman of the
Department of Obstetrics and
Gynecology, in an interview prior to
his trip to Dallas for the ACOG
sessions, said that another problem
area is inadequate insurance for
catastrophic illness resulting from
pregnancy.
“These are young people,” Parker
said, “struggling to start their home
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VOLUME 23, NUMBER 19
MAY 14,1976
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA
To Discuss Impact of Collective Actions
National Forum Meets Today^
“Increasingly, hospitals have
become direct targets or indirect
victims of collective actions within the
health system,” said Dr.. B. Jon
Jaeger, chairman of the Department
of Health Administration.
“Strikes by both non-professionals
and professionals, slow-downs in
admissions, heal-ins and boycotts
have altered the ability of hospitals to
carry out their social mission,” he
said.
The nature of these collective
actions, their impact on hospital
operations and the responses
employed by health administrators to
deal with them are the subjects of a
meeting being held today and
tomorrow in the amphitheater.
More than 200 hospital
administrators and health care
professionals from across the United
States and Canada are expected to
attend the 12th annual National
Forum on Hospital and Health
Affairs, sponsored jointly by the
Department of Health Affairs and
the Duke Endowment.
The forum, which is entitled “The
Impact of Collective Actions on
Hospitals,” will feature nine
addresses by authorities on the health
labor market and health
management.
The morning program, presided
over by Dr. Barbara P. McCool,
associate professor of health
administradon, was to include the
following:
“Collective Actions by Organized
Labor” by Norman Metzger, vice
president of The Sinai Medical
Center of New York; “Collecuve
Actions by Professional Employees”
by Mrs. Anne Zimmerman, executive
administrator of the Illinois Nurses’
Association; and “Collective Actions
(Continued on page 2)
CEREMONIES AND SfRWCfS—Commencement weekend
revived a number of annual occurrences at Duke in addition to
graduation. At left, senior nurses Nancy Miller, Justine
Muench, Elizabeth Muir, Nancy Munn and Kathleen Nacey,
alphabetically arranged for entry into the chapel for the School
of Nursing's Recognition Service on Saturday, seemed amused
by a young man who was looking for a lamiliar face in the
crowd. Earlier on Saturday, also at the chapel, Barbara L.
Blaylock of Winston-Salem let her feelings shape her smile at
the School of Medicine's traditional Hippocratic Oath
Ceremony. Ms. Blaylock became Dr. Blaylock the following
day. (Photos by Jim Wallace)
and family and are overwhelmed by a
major illness associated with a
pregnancy.”
Parker also spoke oiit on risks
associated with “the pill,” warning
that women whose health may be at
great risk from side-effects of oral
contraceptives stand an even greater
risk to themselves and their babies if
they get pregnant.
High-Risk Category
He identified women in the
high-risk category from both oral
contraceptives and pregnancy as
including those in their late 30s and
early 40s, women who have high
blood pressure, who have histories of
heart disease or formation of blood
clots, who suffer from severe
headaches and liver disorders among
other problems.
Besides danger to their own health,
the doaor said high-risk mothers also
stand greater chances of having
babies with illnesses or abnormalities.
Because of what Parker termed the
pill’s “convenience, ease of use and
effectiveness — nothing else comes
close to the cffecdveness of the oral*
contraceptive—other types of birth
control practices have lost popularity.
Reconunends Alternatives
But for women who face high risks
from both oral contraceptives and
.pregnancy, Parker said the
alternadves of intrauterine devices
(lUDs) or the “convenuonal barrier
techniques such as condoms and
diaphragms” should be used.
’There has been a temporary
swing away from the pill,” Parker
said, “and this already has resulted in
unwanted babies and pregnancies in
high-risk mothers. This can only
result in further impairment of the
mother’s health and the danger to a
baby. We don’t want to see our
maternal mortality go back up and
our perinatal mortality increase.”
The theme of Parker’s presidential
year has centered on planning for the
health care of women in the next 25
years. His major efforts during the
year have been aimed at obtaining
national recognition of Ob-Gyn as a
primary care discipline, instituting a
manpower study in the health care of
women and establishing a liaison
committee for Ob-Gyn to further
communications and education for
patient care.
Other Duke Speakers
J. Alexander McMahon, president
of the American Hospital Association
and chairman of the Duke University
Board of Trustees, spoke at one
session on “Your Hospital Today and
Tomorrow.”
Other members of the Duke
Ob-Gyn faculty on the program
included Drs. Carlyle Crenshaw,
Charles Hammond, William
Creasman, Sezer Aksel and Stanley
Gall. Dr. F. Bayard Carter, chairman
emeritus, also attended.
Education Fund
Is Established
A memorial education fund for the
two small daughters of Dr. Charles
M. Lindsey has been established.
Donations may be sent to Dr. John
Grimes, Department of Urology, Box
3059.
Dr. Lindsey, 32, was a former chief
resident in urology here and died
while serving a rotation at the Oteen
VA Hospital.
His daughters are 8 and 4 years
old.