Providing charity care: a primer on liability risk.

F A M I L Y P R A C T I C E M A N A G E M E N T ■ www.aafp.org / fpm ■ January 2003 IL LU ST R A TI O N B Y C .M . SC H N EI D ER Liability exposure is usually one of the first questions raised by physicians interested in volunteering to care for the uninsured. Few liability claims arise from these charitable efforts, however, and physicians who volunteer in free clinics and other community initiatives have some liability protection under state law as well as under a federal statute.