Commitments And Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Commitments And Contingencies [Abstract]

Commitments And Contingencies

11. Commitments and Contingencies

Our business results in a number of medical malpractice lawsuits. Claims reported to us on or prior to December 17, 2002 were generally covered by external insurance policies and to date have not had a material financial impact on our business other than the cost of insurance and our deductibles under those policies. Effective in December 2002, we established a captive insurance company to provide coverage for claims brought against us after December 17, 2002. We use the captive insurance company for both primary insurance and excess liability coverage. A number of claims are now pending with our captive insurance company. Since the inception of the captive insurance company in 2002, total claims and expense payments of approximately $6.0 million have been disbursed.

Our actuaries determine our loss reserves based on our historical claim experience, comparable industry experience and recent trends that would impact the ultimate settlement of claims. We believe that the recorded loss reserves are reasonable based on this analysis. However, due to the uncertainties inherent in the determination of these liabilities, the ultimate settlement of claims incurred through December 31, 2011 could differ from the amounts recorded. We record any adjustment to these estimates in the period determined.

We maintained insurance reserves of $7.2 million and $7.4 million at December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively, of which $951,000 and $976,000 have been classified as current within the caption "Accrued liabilities and other" in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Although our insurance reserve reflects our best estimate of the amount of probable loss, we believe the range of loss that is reasonably possible to have been incurred to be approximately $5.6 million to $12.0 million at December 31, 2011.

In addition to the above, we are periodically subject to various other claims and lawsuits. We believe that none of these other claims or lawsuits to which we are currently subject, individually or in the aggregate, will have a material adverse affect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.