For months, physicians and practice managers have been in crisis mode due to COVID-19 and have faced daunting challenges daily. What the future holds relative to the evolution of COVID-19 remains unknown, but it is certain that litigation for COVID-related claims is on the horizon and will impact physicians in all medical specialties and practice models.

According to attorney John E. Hall Jr., founding partner of Hall Booth Smith in Atlanta, Georgia, which specializes in defense of high-exposure cases involving hospitals and medical malpractice claims, COVID-19 claims are looming in the next one to three years. “The big-dollar plaintiff firms and the plaintiff conglomerates are already starting to advertise for these cases, and they're starting to file them,” Hall says. “There are over 800 cases filed already. Many of those are in the long-term care scenario but [they] are developing every day and in a variety of other areas.”

Are there existing medical liability protections in place? What types of claims are anticipated? What steps can physicians take now to prepare to defend claims in the future? These important questions were recently addressed by Mr. Hall and other expert healthcare executives and attorneys at The Doctors Company’s 2020 Virtual Executive Advisory Board (EAB) meeting.

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