Litiscape Software Allows Physicians to Vet Patients for Litigation Risk

Litiscape, a new software company created to protect physicians from frivolous malpractice litigation and financial exploitation, was officially launched at the beginning of this year. By screening for over 1,200 different liability factors in real-time, Litiscape provides physicians with information that allows them to both protect themselves and give better care to their patients.

The program’s creator, Michael Kamalu, thought of the concept after his father, a private practice family physician, was hit with his fourth malpractice suit. After months of stress and damage to his practice, his father discovered the patient had a long history of filing baseless lawsuits in pursuit of monetary payouts.

Kamalu created Litiscape so that physicians wouldn’t have to be blind to high-risk situations and even exploitation. He has also partnered with malpractice insurance carriers to provide physicians who use the software with a significantly discounted insurance policy, oftentimes saving them a considerable amount of money.

“Unfortunately, the malpractice system incentivizes frivolous litigation,” Kamalu said. “Less than 15% of claims ever show any evidence of medical error, yet 97% of patient plaintiffs receive monetary payouts. Some people justify it by saying malpractice insurance pays the claims so it doesn’t have any significant effect on physicians, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Premiums go up, countless hours are wasted, carefully groomed reputation is damaged, and in some cases, careers have been ruined. With Litiscape, we are putting some control back in the hands of physicians so that they can have the peace of mind to focus on what they became a doctor for—to help and to heal.”

Defensive medicine costs the U.S. roughly $46 billion per year. Litiscape puts the control back into the hands of the physicians by providing better and more detailed background information on patients. Although Litiscape was initially created with the goal to screen for litigation risk, it also ultimately provides the physicians with information that allows them to give better care to their patients.

The Litiscape Report

Litiscape has a proprietary algorithm that calculates a risk profile based on numerous factors including past litigation history, fraud and criminal records. The software also notifies physicians of potential healthcare-influencing factors such as DUIs, prescription fraud, or drug arrests, even detailing what type of drug was involved such as narcotics, barbiturates, or amphetamines. With this knowledge, a physician can be on the lookout for drug-related symptoms and also be aware of which prescriptions may not be appropriate to prescribe.

Kamalu took the time to show OTW a sample report and explain the different categories included with the risk score. When a physician inputs a patient’s name, Litiscape queries in real time every single public record and court database across the nation at all levels including city, county, state and federal. The Litiscape algorithm weighs over 1,200 different factors by how pertinent they are to healthcare providers. The program also runs an identification confirmation to make sure that it is querying the right person. Once the program runs, it presents a final risk score, along with a summary that is divided into four different risk categories: litigation risk, financial risk, criminal risk, and potential healthcare-influencing factors.

In addition to the risk score, physicians also have the option to view the full report. This includes any and all information that was obtained in calculating the risk score. An average report has about 200 pages of information. Criminal information may include arrest dates, locations, and the case result. It may also provide the history on any drug abuse, if the patient has been charged with or convicted of a drug related crime. The report can give a clearer picture of a drug seeking profile because it identifies the types of drugs included in the charge.

“My goal is for physicians to be able to perform their job to the best of their ability without fear of vulnerability and exploitation,” Kamalu said. “Litiscape will provide physicians with peace of mind again, while also enabling them to provide the best informed care for their patients. We believe it will soon become a new standard in the healthcare industry.”

When asked about its growth, Kamalu told OTW that Litiscape has, “Set up about 60 [customers] over the last three weeks and has several hundred more in the pipeline!”

Cost Savings

Litiscape has the potential to save physicians more than just the cost of litigation with its pricing models. The first pricing model is a subscription-based model where the software is purchased as a standalone product. The second pricing model offers the most cost-saving potential because Litiscape works with physician malpractice insurance carriers to offset the net cost of the software. Currently, Litiscape works with about 15 different carriers that provide discounted quotes, and they are getting more all the time.

During his interview with OTW, Kamalu was excited to discuss the Litiscape insurance discount pricing model. He explained, ”As you can imagine, the decrease in claim risk is something insurance carriers are very excited about, so we have been able to negotiate with several of the top carriers across the nation to provide a discounted insurance policy that is specific to physicians who are subscribed to our software. It’s a new policy that we sell together with the software and so far we’ve averaged about a 10% discount from whatever their previous policy is. If they choose to go through us for their malpractice insurance, we only charge the amount that we are able to save them on their insurance so it ends up being a zero net cost to them.”

The cost savings carry over to the physicians on a case-by-case basis. Kamalu gave the example of a large institution they just brought on. Kamalu told OTW, “We ended up saving them 47% on their malpractice insurance and ended up charging about half of that on the software, so it was a net gain of about $30,000 a year for them. So not only do they get the incredible value of the software…but also very significant savings.”

Kamalu noted that there is sometimes an added bonus in savings. He said, “We also give them a discount on their general liability insurance. In certain situations that can be several thousand dollars as well. That always goes towards net savings, we never apply that savings to the software cost.”

About Litiscape

Litiscape’s core product is a software that allows physicians to vet prospective patients for potential liabilities— analyzing and weighing over 1,200 distinct background factors in real-time, and categorizing them by litigation risk, financial risk, criminal risk, and healthcare-influencing factors. By pulling from every public record and court database across the country, physicians have access to invaluable insights into everyone they treat. Litiscape is redefining the standard in provider protection and informed care.

The Litiscape portal is Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant. Litiscape software is compliant with all privacy laws. Physicians do not need to obtain patient permission for the search. To learn more, visit www.litiscape.com.

About Michael Kamalu

Kamalu is a medical-minded entrepreneur. While attending college at Brigham Young University, he started multiple businesses and found success. However, he had always envisioned himself going to medical school and sold his company to pursue his dream of becoming an orthopedic surgeon.

After scoring in the 100th percentile on the MCAT, Kamalu accepted a scholarship to go to the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine. It was during his first year of medical school that he started building Litiscape. After completing his first year-and-a-half of medical school, Kamalu decided to take a leave of absence to fully dedicate his time to Litiscape.