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Owens v. Thomae6/14/2005
s on the party requesting summary judgment. Id. If any genuine issues of fact exist, the trial court's grant of summary judgment will be reversed; otherwise, the decision will be affirmed. Id.
ANALYSIS
. Owens contends that Dr. Thomae was not an employee of UMMC at the time he treated her and is not immune under the MTCA. In Miller v. Meeks, 762 So. 2d 302, 310 ( ) (Miss. 2000), the supreme court listed five factors to determine whether a faculty-physician was acting as an employee at the time of the alleged negligence and is entitled to immunity under the MTCA. The five factors are: (1) the nature of the function performed by the employee; (2) the extent of the state's interest and involvement in the function; (3) the degree of control and direction exercised by the state over the employee; (4) whether the act complained of involved the use of judgment and discretion; and (5) whether the physician received compensation , either directly or indirectly, from the patient for professional services rendered. Id. We will analyze each factor below.
1. The Nature of the Function Performed by the Employee
. During each of Owens' four surgeries, Dr. Thomae was assisted by at least one resident physician. Dr. Thomae's function was that of a surgeon and an instructor. An integral part of Dr. Thomae's employment with UMMC is that Dr. Thomae must provide teaching services to UMMC medical students and resident physicians in a clinical surgical setting. Dr. Wallace Connerly, Vice-Chancellor for Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine at UMMC, described the teaching function of UMMC professors of surgery, such as Dr. Thomae, as follows:
When you talk about any of the surgical specialties, whether it is general surgery, trauma or what have you, do understand that teaching in that environment is primarily at the bedside or at the operating table. You are not talking about lectures. You are not talking about testing. You are not talking about grading tests. You are talking about somebody teaching somebody how to do it at the operating table and, then, how to care for them post-operatively in their rooms.
Dr. Connerly testified that in the setting of an academic health center it is expected that every case be used as a teaching case irregardless of whether the patient is a private pay, Medicare/Medicaid or non-paying patient.
. Owens argues that because Dr. Thomae operated on her more than once and provided postoperative follow-up care, the nature of his role was changed to that of a physician in private practice. However, it was Dr. Thomae's duty to provide follow-up care to any patient he treated. All of Dr. Thomae's treatment of Owens arose from and out of his initial treatment of her in the UMMC emergency room, where he was required by his contractual obligation with the State of Mississippi to provide medical attention to patients. Furthermore, the four surgical operations performed by Dr. Thomae and the resident physicians occurred while Owens was still a patient at UMMC.
. Owens also contends that because she was not a Medicaid/Medicare or an indigent patient, the governmental function of caring for the less fortunate was not present, and thus, Dr. Thomae is not protected under the MTCA. However, Owens' position that UMMC faculty-physicians are entitled to the protection of the MTCA only when they treat Medicaid/Medicare or indigent patients is without merit. UMMC medical practice plans, such as USA, provide services to both insured and uninsured patients. See Mozingo v. Scharf, 828 So. 2d 1246 (Miss. 2002); Watts v. Tsang, 828 So. 2d 785 (Miss. 2002). "Medical Practice Plans are organized groups of physicians wi
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