Senate Bill sb0908
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Florida Senate - 2007 SB 908
By Senator Saunders
37-429B-07
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to patient safety; creating the
3 "Patient Safety and Provider Liability Act";
4 providing legislative findings; amending s.
5 766.110, F.S.; specifying certain authorized
6 insurers who may make available liability
7 insurance; authorizing a facility to assess a
8 portion of such costs to a covered individual
9 or provider; amending s. 766.118, F.S.;
10 providing a limitation on noneconomic damages
11 for a hospital facility that complies with
12 certain patient-safety measures; creating s.
13 766.401, F.S.; providing definitions; creating
14 s. 766.402, F.S.; authorizing an eligible
15 hospital to petition the agency for an order
16 certifying the hospital as a certified
17 patient-safety facility; providing requirements
18 for certification as a patient-safety facility;
19 authorizing the agency to conduct onsite
20 examinations; providing for revocation of an
21 order certifying approval of a certified
22 patient-safety facility; providing that an
23 order certifying the approval of a certified
24 patient-safety facility is conclusive evidence
25 of compliance with statutory patient-safety
26 requirements; providing that evidence of
27 noncompliance is not admissible for any action
28 for medical malpractice; creating s. 766.403,
29 F.S.; providing requirements for a hospital to
30 demonstrate that it is engaged in a common
31 enterprise for the care and treatment of
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1 patients; specifying required patient-safety
2 measures; providing that a report or document
3 generated under the act is not admissible or
4 discoverable as evidence; creating s. 766.404,
5 F.S.; requiring a certified patient-safety
6 facility to submit an annual report to the
7 Agency for Health Care Administration and the
8 Legislature; providing requirements for the
9 annual report; providing that the annual report
10 may include certain information from the Office
11 of Insurance Regulation within the Department
12 of Financial Services; providing that the
13 annual report is subject to public-records
14 requirements but is not admissible as evidence
15 in a legal proceeding; creating s. 766.405,
16 F.S.; providing for limitations on damages for
17 eligible hospitals that are certified for
18 compliance with certain patient-safety measures
19 and certain faculty physicians on staff at
20 those hospitals; providing that limitations on
21 liability apply to certain causes of action;
22 creating s. 766.406, F.S.; providing rulemaking
23 authority for the Agency for Health Care
24 Administration; amending s. 768.77, F.S.;
25 requiring that items for future economic losses
26 that are awarded to a claimant be itemized;
27 providing appropriations and additional
28 positions; providing an effective date.
29
30 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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1 Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Patient
2 Safety and Provider Liability Act."
3 Section 2. Legislative findings.--The Legislature
4 finds that:
5 (1) This state is in the midst of a prolonged medical
6 malpractice insurance crisis that has serious adverse effects
7 on patients, practitioners, licensed health care facilities,
8 and all residents of this state.
9 (2) Hospitals are central components of the modern
10 health care delivery system.
11 (3) The medical malpractice insurance crisis in this
12 state can be alleviated by adopting innovative approaches for
13 patient safety in teaching hospitals, which can lead to a
14 reduction in medical errors coupled with a limitation on
15 noneconomic damages that can be awarded against a teaching
16 hospital implementing such innovative approaches.
17 (4) Statutory incentives are necessary to facilitate
18 innovative approaches for patient safety in hospitals and that
19 such incentives and patient-safety measures will benefit all
20 persons seeking health care services in this state.
21 (5) Coupling patient safety measures and a limitation
22 on provider liability in teaching hospitals will lead to a
23 reduction in the frequency and severity of incidents of
24 medical malpractice in hospitals.
25 (6) A reduction in the frequency and severity of
26 incidents of medical malpractice in hospitals will reduce
27 attorney's fees and other expenses inherent in the medical
28 liability system.
29 (7) There is no alternative method that addresses the
30 overwhelming public necessity to implement patient-safety
31 measures and limit provider liability.
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1 (8) Making high-quality health care available to the
2 residents of this state is an overwhelming public necessity.
3 (9) Medical education in this state is an overwhelming
4 public necessity.
5 (10) That statutory teaching hospitals are essential
6 for high-quality medical care and medical education in this
7 state.
8 (11) The critical mission of statutory teaching
9 hospitals is severely undermined by the ongoing medical
10 malpractice crisis.
11 (12) Teaching hospitals are appropriate health care
12 facilities for implementing innovative approaches to enhancing
13 patient safety and limiting provider liability.
14 (13) There is an overwhelming public necessity to
15 impose reasonable limitations on actions for medical
16 malpractice against teaching hospitals in furtherance of the
17 critical public interest in promoting access to high-quality
18 medical care, medical education, and innovative approaches to
19 patient safety and provider liability.
20 (14) There is an overwhelming public necessity for
21 teaching hospitals to implement innovative measures for
22 patient safety and limit provider liability in order to
23 generate empirical data for state policymakers concerning the
24 effectiveness of these measures. Such data may lead to broader
25 application of these measures in a wider array of hospitals
26 after a reasonable period of evaluation and review.
27 (15) There is an overwhelming public necessity to
28 promote the academic mission of teaching hospitals.
29 Furthermore, the Legislature finds that the academic mission
30 of these medical facilities is materially enhanced by
31 statutory authority for implementing innovative approaches to
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1 promoting patient safety and limiting provider liability. Such
2 approaches can be carefully studied and learned by medical
3 students, medical school faculty, and affiliated physicians in
4 appropriate clinical settings, thereby enlarging the body of
5 knowledge concerning patient safety and provider liability
6 which is essential for advancing patient safety, reducing
7 expenses inherent in the medical liability system, and
8 curtailing the medical malpractice insurance crisis in this
9 state.
10 Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 766.110, Florida
11 Statutes, is amended to read:
12 766.110 Liability of health care facilities.--
13 (2) Every hospital licensed under chapter 395 may
14 carry liability insurance or adequately insure itself in an
15 amount of not less than $1.5 million per claim, $5 million
16 annual aggregate to cover all medical injuries to patients
17 resulting from negligent acts or omissions on the part of
18 those members of its medical staff who are covered thereby in
19 furtherance of the requirements of ss. 458.320 and 459.0085.
20 Self-insurance Coverage extended hereunder to a member of a
21 hospital's medical staff meets the financial responsibility
22 requirements of ss. 458.320 and 459.0085 if the physician's
23 coverage limits are not less than the minimum limits
24 established in ss. 458.320 and 459.0085 and the hospital is a
25 verified trauma center that has extended self-insurance
26 coverage continuously to members of its medical staff for
27 activities both inside and outside of the hospital. Any
28 authorized insurer or approved insurer as defined in s.
29 626.914(2), risk retention group as defined in s. 627.942, or
30 joint underwriting association established under s. 627.351(4)
31 which is authorized or approved to write casualty insurance
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1 may make available, but is shall not be required to write, any
2 such coverage authorized under this section. The hospital may
3 assess on an equitable and pro rata basis the following
4 individuals to whom it extends coverage pursuant to this
5 section professional health care providers for a portion of
6 the total hospital insurance cost for this coverage:
7 physicians licensed under chapter 458, osteopathic physicians
8 licensed under chapter 459, podiatric physicians licensed
9 under chapter 461, dentists licensed under chapter 466, and
10 nurses licensed under part I of chapter 464. The hospital may
11 provide for a deductible amount to be applied against any
12 individual health care provider found liable in a law suit in
13 tort or for breach of contract. The legislative intent in
14 providing for the deductible to be applied to individual
15 health care providers found negligent or in breach of contract
16 is to instill in each individual health care provider the
17 incentive to avoid the risk of injury to the fullest extent
18 and ensure that the citizens of this state receive the highest
19 quality health care obtainable. Notwithstanding s. 626.901 or
20 any other provision of this section, a certified
21 patient-safety facility, as defined in s. 766.401, may extend
22 insurance or self-insurance coverage to some or all members of
23 its medical staff, including, but not limited to, physicians
24 who are not employees or agents of the hospital and any
25 incorporated or unincorporated organization, association, or
26 group of persons liable for the medical negligence of such
27 physicians, and some or all medical, nursing, or allied health
28 professionals or students who are affiliated with the
29 hospital, other than persons exempt from liability due to
30 sovereign immunity under s. 768.28. Such coverage must be
31 limited to legal liability arising out of medical negligence
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1 within the hospital premises as defined under s. 766.401. A
2 certified patient-safety facility may assess against any
3 individual to whom it extends coverage a portion of the total
4 hospital insurance cost for this coverage on an equitable and
5 pro rata basis and may provide for a deductible amount to be
6 applied against any covered health care provider found liable
7 in a lawsuit in tort or for breach of contract.
8 Section 4. Present subsections (6) and (7) of section
9 766.118, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (7)
10 and (8), respectively, and a new subsection (6) is added to
11 that section, to read:
12 766.118 Determination of noneconomic damages.--
13 (6) LIMITATION ON NONECONOMIC DAMAGES FOR NEGLIGENCE
14 OF CERTAIN HOSPITALS.--Notwithstanding any other provision in
15 this section, with respect to liability for personal injury or
16 wrongful death arising from medical negligence within a
17 certified patient-safety facility as defined in s. 766.401 by
18 employees or agents of the certified patient-safety facility
19 or by the employees or agents of a nonprofit medical school
20 whose faculty comprise at least 50 percent of the certified
21 patient-safety facility's medical staff, noneconomic damages
22 may not exceed $500,000 regardless of the number of claimants,
23 number of claims, or theory of liability, including vicarious
24 liability, arising from the same nucleus of operative fact.
25 Section 5. Section 766.401, Florida Statutes, is
26 created to read:
27 766.401 Definitions.--As used in this section and ss.
28 766.402-766.405, the term:
29 (1) "Adverse medical incident" has the same meaning as
30 provided in s. 381.028 and has the same meaning as the term
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1 "adverse incident" as provided in ss. 381.0271, 395.0197,
2 458.351, and 459.026.
3 (2) "Affected patient" means a patient of a certified
4 patient-safety facility.
5 (3) "Affected practitioner" means any person,
6 including a physician, who is credentialed by the eligible
7 hospital to provide health care services in a certified
8 patient-safety facility.
9 (4) "Agency" means the Agency for Health Care
10 Administration.
11 (5) "Certified patient-safety facility" means any
12 eligible hospital that, in accordance with an order from the
13 Agency for Health Care Administration, has adopted a
14 patient-safety plan.
15 (6) "Eligible hospital" or "licensed facility" means a
16 statutory teaching hospital, as defined by s. 408.07, which
17 maintains at least seven different accredited programs in
18 graduate medical education and has 100 or more full-time
19 equivalent resident physicians.
20 (7) "Health care provider" or "provider" means:
21 (a) An eligible hospital.
22 (b) A physician or a physician assistant licensed
23 under chapter 458.
24 (c) An osteopathic physician or an osteopathic
25 physician assistant licensed under chapter 459.
26 (d) A registered nurse, nurse midwife, licensed
27 practical nurse, or advanced registered nurse practitioner
28 licensed or registered under part I of chapter 464 or any
29 facility that employs nurses licensed or registered under part
30 I of chapter 464 to supply all or part of the care delivered
31 by that facility.
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1 (e) A health care professional association and its
2 employees or a corporate medical group and its employees.
3 (f) Any other medical facility in which the primary
4 purpose is to deliver human medical diagnostic services or to
5 deliver nonsurgical human medical treatment, including an
6 office maintained by a provider.
7 (g) A free clinic that delivers only medical
8 diagnostic services or nonsurgical medical treatment free of
9 charge to low-income persons who are not otherwise covered by
10 Medicaid or other programs for low-income persons.
11 (h) Any other health care professional, practitioner,
12 or provider, including a student enrolled in an accredited
13 program, who prepares the student for licensure as any one of
14 the professionals listed in this subsection.
15 (i) Any person, organization, or entity that is
16 vicariously liable under the theory of respondeat superior or
17 any other theory of legal liability for medical negligence
18 committed by any licensed professional listed in this
19 subsection.
20 (j) Any nonprofit corporation qualified as exempt from
21 federal income taxation under s. 501(a) of the Internal
22 Revenue Code and described in s. 501(c) of the Internal
23 Revenue Code, including any university or medical school that
24 employs licensed professionals listed in this subsection or
25 which delivers health care services provided by licensed
26 professionals listed in this subsection, any federally funded
27 community health center, and any volunteer corporation or
28 volunteer health care provider that delivers health care
29 services.
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1 (8) "Health care practitioner" or "practitioner" means
2 any person, entity, or organization identified in subsection
3 (7), except for a hospital.
4 (9) "Medical negligence" means medical malpractice,
5 whether grounded in tort or in contract, arising out of the
6 rendering of or failure to render medical care or services.
7 (10) "Person" means any individual, partnership,
8 corporation, association, or governmental unit.
9 (11) "Premises" means those buildings, beds, and
10 equipment located at the address of the licensed facility and
11 all other buildings, beds, and equipment for the provision of
12 the hospital, ambulatory surgical, mobile surgical care,
13 primary care, or comprehensive health care under the dominion
14 and control of the licensee, including offices and locations
15 where the licensed facility offers medical care and treatment
16 to affected patients.
17 (12) "Statutory teaching hospital" or "teaching
18 hospital" has the same meaning as provided in s. 408.07.
19 Section 6. Section 766.402, Florida Statutes, is
20 created to read:
21 766.402 Agency approval of patient-safety plans.--
22 (1) An eligible hospital that has adopted a
23 patient-safety plan may petition the agency to enter an order
24 certifying approval of the hospital as a certified
25 patient-safety facility.
26 (2) In accordance with chapter 120, the agency shall
27 enter an order certifying approval of the certified
28 patient-safety facility upon a showing that, in furtherance of
29 an approach to patient safety, the petitioner:
30 (a) Has established safety measures for the care and
31 treatment of patients.
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1 (b) Satisfies requirements for patient-protection
2 measures, as specified in s. 766.403.
3 (c) Satisfies all other requirements of ss.
4 766.401-766.405.
5 (3) Upon entry of an order approving the petition, the
6 agency may conduct onsite examinations of the licensed
7 facility to ensure continued compliance with the terms and
8 conditions of the order.
9 (4) The order approving a petition under this section
10 remains in effect until revoked. The agency may revoke the
11 order upon reasonable notice to the eligible hospital that it
12 fails to comply with material requirements of s. 766.403 and
13 that the hospital has failed to cure the stated deficiencies
14 within a reasonable time after receipt of the initial notice
15 from the agency delineating the specific deficiencies to be
16 cured by the hospital. Revocation of an agency order pursuant
17 to s. 766.403 applies prospectively to any cause of action
18 for medical negligence which arises on or after the effective
19 date of the order of revocation.
20 (5) An order approving a petition under this section
21 is, as a matter of law, conclusive evidence that the hospital
22 complies with the applicable patient-safety requirements of s.
23 766.403. A hospital's noncompliance with the requirements of
24 s. 766.403 does not affect the limitations on damages
25 conferred by this section. Evidence of noncompliance with s.
26 766.403 is not admissible for any purpose in any action for
27 medical malpractice. This section, or any portion thereof,
28 does not give rise to an independent cause of action for
29 damages against any hospital.
30 Section 7. Section 766.403, Florida Statutes, is
31 created to read:
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1 766.403 Patient-safety plans.--
2 (1) In order to satisfy the requirements of s.
3 766.402, the licensed facility shall have a patient-safety
4 plan, which provides that the facility shall:
5 (a) Have in place a process, either through the
6 facility's patient-safety committee or a similar body, for
7 coordinating the quality control, risk management, and
8 patient-relations functions of the facility and for reporting
9 to the facility's governing board at least quarterly regarding
10 such efforts.
11 (b) Establish within the facility a system for
12 reporting near misses and agree to submit any information
13 collected to the Florida Patient Safety Corporation. Such
14 information must be submitted by the facility and made
15 available by the Patient Safety Corporation in accordance with
16 s. 381.0271(7).
17 (c) Design and make available to facility staff,
18 including medical staff, a patient-safety curriculum that
19 provides lecture and web-based training on recognized
20 patient-safety principles, which may include training in
21 communication skills, team-performance assessment and
22 training, risk-prevention strategies, and best practices and
23 evidence-based medicine. The licensed facility shall report
24 annually the programs presented to the agency.
25 (d) Implement a program to identify health care
26 providers on the facility's staff who may be eligible for an
27 early-intervention program that provides additional skills
28 assessment and training and offer such training to the staff
29 on a voluntary and confidential basis with established
30 mechanisms to assess program performance and results.
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1 (e) Implement a simulation-based program for skills
2 assessment, training, and retraining of a facility's staff in
3 those tasks and activities that the agency identifies by rule.
4 (f) Designate a patient advocate who coordinates with
5 members of the medical staff and the facility's chief medical
6 officer regarding the disclosure of adverse medical incidents
7 to patients. In addition, the patient advocate shall
8 establish an advisory panel, consisting of providers, patients
9 or their families, and other health care consumers or consumer
10 groups to review general patient-safety concerns and other
11 issues related to relations among and between patients and
12 providers and to identify areas where additional education and
13 program development may be appropriate.
14 (g) Establish a procedure to biennially review the
15 facility's patient-safety program and its compliance with the
16 requirements of this section. Such review shall be conducted
17 by an independent patient-safety organization as defined in s.
18 766.1016(1) or other professional organization approved by the
19 agency. The organization performing the review shall prepare a
20 written report that contains detailed findings and
21 recommendations. The report shall be forwarded to the
22 facility's risk manager or patient-safety officer, who may
23 make written comments in response. The report and any written
24 comments shall be presented to the governing board of the
25 licensed facility. A copy of the report and any of the
26 facility's responses to the findings and recommendations shall
27 be provided to the agency within 60 days after the date that
28 the governing board reviewed the report. The report is
29 confidential and exempt from production or discovery in any
30 civil action. Likewise, the report and the information
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1 contained therein are not admissible as evidence for any
2 purpose in any action for medical negligence.
3 (h) Establish a system for the trending and tracking
4 of quality and patient-safety indicators that the agency may
5 identify by rule and a method for review of the data at least
6 semiannually by the facility's patient-safety committee.
7 (2) This section does not constitute an applicable
8 standard of care in any action for medical negligence or
9 otherwise create a private right of action, and evidence of
10 noncompliance with this section is not admissible for any
11 purpose in any action for medical negligence against any
12 health care provider.
13 (3) This section does not prohibit the licensed
14 facility from implementing other measures for promoting
15 patient safety within the premises. This section does not
16 relieve the licensed facility from the duty to implement any
17 other patient-safety measure that is required by state law.
18 The Legislature intends that the patient-safety measures
19 specified in this section are in addition to all other
20 patient-safety measures required by state law, federal law,
21 and applicable accreditation standards for licensed
22 facilities.
23 (4) A review, report, or other document created,
24 produced, delivered, or discussed pursuant to this section is
25 not discoverable or admissible as evidence in any legal
26 action.
27 Section 8. Section 766.404, Florida Statutes, is
28 created to read:
29 766.404 Annual report.--
30 (1) Each certified patient-safety facility shall
31 submit an annual report to the agency containing information
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1 and data reasonably required by the agency to evaluate
2 performance and effectiveness of its patient-safety plan.
3 However, information may not be submitted or disclosed in
4 violation of any patient's right to privacy under state or
5 federal law.
6 (2) The agency shall aggregate information and data
7 submitted by all certified patient-safety facilities, and each
8 year, on or before March 1, the agency shall submit a report
9 to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
10 Representatives which evaluates the performance and
11 effectiveness of the approach to enhancing patient safety and
12 limiting provider liability in certified patient-safety
13 facilities. The report must include, but need not be limited
14 to, pertinent data concerning:
15 (a) The number and names of certified patient-safety
16 facilities;
17 (b) The number and types of patient-protection
18 measures currently in effect in these facilities;
19 (c) The number of affected patients;
20 (d) The number of surgical procedures on affected
21 patients;
22 (e) The number of adverse medical incidents, claims of
23 medical malpractice, and claims resulting in indemnity;
24 (f) The average time for resolving contested and
25 uncontested claims of medical malpractice;
26 (g) The percentage of claims which result in civil
27 trials;
28 (h) The percentage of civil trials which result in
29 adverse judgments against affected facilities;
30 (i) The number and average amount of an indemnity paid
31 to claimants;
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1 (j) The estimated liability expense, inclusive of
2 medical liability insurance premiums; and
3 (k) The percentage of medical liability expense,
4 inclusive of medical liability insurance premiums, which is
5 borne by affected practitioners in certified patient-safety
6 facilities.
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8 The report may also include other information and data that
9 the agency considers appropriate to gauge the cost and benefit
10 of patient-safety plans.
11 (3) The agency's annual report to the President of the
12 Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives may
13 include relevant information and data obtained from the Office
14 of Insurance Regulation within the Department of Financial
15 Services concerning the availability and affordability of
16 enterprise-wide medical liability insurance coverage for
17 affected facilities and the availability and affordability of
18 insurance policies for individual practitioners which contain
19 coverage exclusions for acts of medical negligence in
20 facilities that indemnify health practitioners. The Office of
21 Insurance Regulation shall cooperate with the agency in
22 reporting the information and data specified in this
23 subsection.
24 (4) Reports submitted to the agency by certified
25 patient-safety facilities pursuant to this section are public
26 records under chapter 119. However, these reports, and the
27 information contained therein, are not admissible as evidence
28 in a court of law in any action.
29 Section 9. Section 766.405, Florida Statutes, is
30 created to read:
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1 766.405 Damages in malpractice actions against certain
2 hospitals and faculty physicians who meet patient-safety
3 requirements; agency approval of patient-safety measures.--
4 (1) Upon entry of an order pursuant to s. 766.402 and
5 for the entire period that the order remains in effect, the
6 damages recoverable from an eligible hospital covered by the
7 order and from its physician employees, its nonphysician
8 employees, its agents, a nonprofit medical school whose
9 physicians comprise at least 50 percent of the medical staff
10 of the eligible hospital, and the physicians of such a
11 nonprofit medical school in actions arising from medical
12 negligence on the premises of the eligible hospital shall be
13 determined in accordance with the following provisions:
14 (a) Noneconomic damages shall be limited to a maximum
15 of $500,000, regardless of the number of claimants, number of
16 claims, or the theory of liability pursuant to s. 766.118(6).
17 (b) Awards of economic damages shall be offset by
18 payments from collateral sources, as defined by s. 766.202(2),
19 and any set-offs available under ss. 46.015 and 768.041.
20 Awards for future economic losses shall be offset by future
21 collateral source payments.
22 (c) Awards of future economic damages, after being
23 offset by collateral sources, shall, at the option of the
24 eligible hospital, be:
25 1. Reduced by the court to present value and paid in
26 full; or
27 2. Paid by means of periodic payments in the form of
28 annuities or reversionary trusts.
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30 Periodic payments of future economic damages attributable to
31 the medical care, health care, and personal care of the
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1 claimant shall be payable until the end of the life of the
2 claimant, at which time the obligation to make such payments
3 terminates. A company that underwrites an annuity to pay
4 future economic damages shall have a rating of "A" or higher
5 by A.M. Best Company. The court shall approve the terms of the
6 periodic payments, which shall identify the amount of the
7 payment attributable to future medical care, health care, and
8 personal care. Court approval may not be unreasonably
9 withheld.
10 (2) The limitations on liability provided by this
11 section apply to causes of action that accrue while an
12 eligible facility is a certified patient safety facility.
13 Section 10. Section 766.406, Florida Statutes, is
14 created to read:
15 766.406 Rulemaking authority.--The agency may adopt
16 rules to administer ss. 766.401-766.405.
17 Section 11. Subsection (2) of section 768.77, Florida
18 Statutes, is amended to read:
19 768.77 Itemized verdict.--
20 (2) In any action for damages based on personal injury
21 or wrongful death arising out of medical malpractice, whether
22 in tort or contract, to which this part applies in which the
23 trier of fact determines that liability exists on the part of
24 the defendant, the trier of fact shall, as a part of the
25 verdict, itemize the amounts to be awarded to the claimant
26 into the following categories of damages:
27 (a) Amounts intended to compensate the claimant for:
28 1. Past economic losses; and
29 2. Future economic losses, with a separate item
30 indicating the amount attributable to health care, medical
31 care, and personal care, not reduced to present value, and the
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1 number of years or part thereof which the award is intended to
2 cover;
3 (b) Amounts intended to compensate the claimant for:
4 1. Past noneconomic losses; and
5 2. Future noneconomic losses and the number of years
6 or part thereof which the award is intended to cover; and
7 (c) Amounts awarded to the claimant for punitive
8 damages, if applicable.
9 Section 12. If any provision of this act or its
10 application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the
11 invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of
12 the act which can be given effect without the invalid
13 provision or application, and to this end, the provisions of
14 this act are severable.
15 Section 13. The sum of $226,984 in recurring funds
16 from the Health Care Trust Fund and the sum of $72,057 in
17 nonrecurring funds from the Health Care Trust Fund are
18 appropriated, and three additional full-time equivalent
19 positions and associated salary rate of $127,817 are
20 authorized, to the Agency for Health Care Administration for
21 the 2007-2008 fiscal year for the purpose of implementing the
22 provisions of this act.
23 Section 14. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
24 law.
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Florida Senate - 2007 SB 908
37-429B-07
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2 SENATE SUMMARY
3 Creates the "Patient Safety and Provider Liability Act."
Requires hospitals that assume liability for acts of
4 medical negligence under the act to carry insurance.
Authorizes an eligible hospital to petition the Agency
5 for Health Care Administration to enter an order
certifying the hospital as a patient-safety facility.
6 Provides requirements for certification as a
patient-safety facility. Authorizes the agency to enter
7 an order certifying a hospital as a patient-safety
facility and providing that the hospital bears liability
8 for acts of medical negligence for its health care
providers or an agent of the hospital. Authorizes the
9 agency to conduct onsite examinations of a licensed
facility. Provides circumstances when the agency may
10 revoke its order certifying approval of an enterprise
plan. Requires a certified patient-safety facility to
11 submit an annual report to the agency and the
Legislature. Authorizes certain teaching hospitals and
12 eligible hospitals to petition the agency for
certification. Provides for limitations on damages for
13 eligible hospitals that are certified for compliance with
certain patient-safety measures and certain faculty
14 physicians on staff at those hospitals. Provides that
claims for future economic losses be itemized. Provides
15 appropriations. (See bill for details.)
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.