Risk management enhances quality care and protection from liability.

Two externally imposed economic pressures that grip the health care industry are on a collision course: tightening reimbursement and exploding costs of malpractice litigation and insurance. Physicians practice defensive medicine to cope with the latter, but regulatory agencies are no longer willing to pay for this habit. Pathologists must be aware of the laboratory's liability exposure, which is likely to increase in the future. Hospitals and physicians are turning to risk management programs to help limit potential losses and monitor performance.