U-M obstetrics researcher wins Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation award

Researcher’s work sheds light on obstetric providers’ concern about malpractice litigation



ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation has awarded a University of Michigan obstetrics researcher for her study examining the effects of medical liability risk on the availability of obstetric care in the state.

Xiao Xu, Ph.D., is the winner of the 2008 BCBSM Foundation McDevitt Excellence in Research award in the area of policy research. Xu, a research investigator in the U-M Health System’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, won the award for a paper that was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The study by Xu and her co-authors found that many obstetricians, family physicians and nurse midwives in Michigan planned to discontinue delivering babies or reduce their provision of high-risk obstetric care in the next five years. One of the main reasons cited by the providers was the risk of malpractice litigation.

The $10,000 award from the BCBSM Foundation can be used for conducting clinical or health policy research.