| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to professional liability claims; amending |
| 3 | s. 627.912, F.S.; revising requirements for professional |
| 4 | liability claims and actions; providing definitions; |
| 5 | requiring certain absence of claims submission reports to |
| 6 | be filed under certain circumstances; providing an |
| 7 | effective date. |
| 8 |
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| 9 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 10 |
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| 11 | Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 627.912, Florida |
| 12 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 13 | 627.912 Professional liability claims and actions; reports |
| 14 | by insurers and health care providers; annual report by |
| 15 | office.-- |
| 16 | (1)(a) Each self-insurer authorized under s. 627.357 and |
| 17 | each commercial self-insurance fund authorized under s. 624.462, |
| 18 | authorized insurer, surplus lines insurer, risk retention group, |
| 19 | and joint underwriting association providing professional |
| 20 | liability insurance to a practitioner of medicine licensed under |
| 21 | chapter 458, to a practitioner of osteopathic medicine licensed |
| 22 | under chapter 459, to a podiatric physician licensed under |
| 23 | chapter 461, to a dentist licensed under chapter 466, to a |
| 24 | hospital licensed under chapter 395, to a crisis stabilization |
| 25 | unit licensed under part IV of chapter 394, to a health |
| 26 | maintenance organization certificated under part I of chapter |
| 27 | 641, to clinics included in chapter 390, or to an ambulatory |
| 28 | surgical center as defined in s. 395.002, and each insurer |
| 29 | providing professional liability insurance to a member of The |
| 30 | Florida Bar shall report to the office any written claim or |
| 31 | action for damages for personal injuries claimed to have been |
| 32 | caused by error, omission, or negligence in the performance of |
| 33 | such insured's professional services or based on a claimed |
| 34 | performance of professional services without consent, if the |
| 35 | claim has been closed and resulted in: |
| 36 | 1. A final judgment in any amount. |
| 37 | 2. A fully executed settlement agreement in any amount. |
| 38 | 3. A final disposition of a medical malpractice claim |
| 39 | resulting in no indemnity payment and $2,500 or more paid in |
| 40 | loss adjustment expenses on behalf of the insured. |
| 41 | (b) For purposes of this section, the term: |
| 42 | 1. "Claim" means a notice of intent to initiate |
| 43 | litigation, a summons and complaint, or a written demand from a |
| 44 | person or his or her legal representative stating an intention |
| 45 | to pursue an action for damages against a person described in |
| 46 | paragraph (a). |
| 47 | 2. "Closed claim" means: |
| 48 | a. Any judgment that has been entered against any health |
| 49 | care provider identified in paragraph (a) for which all appeals |
| 50 | as a matter of right have been exhausted or for which the time |
| 51 | period for filing such an appeal has expired; |
| 52 | b. The execution of an agreement between a health care |
| 53 | provider identified in paragraph (a) or an entity required to |
| 54 | report under that paragraph and a recipient of professional |
| 55 | services by the provider to settle damages purported to arise |
| 56 | from the provision of professional services, which agreement |
| 57 | includes the payment of at least $1; or |
| 58 | c. The final payment of any money by any of the entities |
| 59 | required to report under paragraph (a) on behalf of any health |
| 60 | care provider identified in that paragraph for damages purported |
| 61 | to arise from professional services rendered. |
| 62 | (c) In any calendar year in which no claim or action for |
| 63 | damages has been closed, the entity shall file a no claim |
| 64 | submission report. Each no claim submission report shall be |
| 65 | filed with the office no later than April 1 of each calendar |
| 66 | year for the preceding calendar year. However, if a reporting |
| 67 | entity submits a no claim submission report for a particular |
| 68 | calendar year and subsequently discovers that its report was |
| 69 | submitted in error, the reporting entity shall promptly notify |
| 70 | the office of the error and take steps as directed by the office |
| 71 | to make the needed corrections. |
| 72 | (d)(b) Each health care practitioner and health care |
| 73 | facility listed in paragraph (a) must report any claim or action |
| 74 | for damages as described in paragraph (a), if the claim is not |
| 75 | otherwise required to be reported by an insurer or other |
| 76 | insuring entity. |
| 77 |
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| 78 | Reports under this subsection shall be filed with the office no |
| 79 | later than 30 days following the occurrence of any event listed |
| 80 | in paragraph (a) or any claim or closed claim. |
| 81 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009. |