"Code Blue" is a medical term that indicates a patient needs life-saving emergency treatment.

It is also a term being bandied about by Pennsylvania doctors when they talk about where medical care in the commonwealth is headed in the wake of what they say is a growing medical liability crisis.

To call attention to the situation, the 135-member Mercer County Medical Society is joining the Pennsylvania Medical Society, along with other physicians' groups, medical specialty organizations and patient groups, in planning "Code Blue" events the week of April 30 to May 6.

Many doctors, including those locally, are expected to close their offices, although how many will do it is unclear.

"It's been met by all of the practices at our meetings with a lot of positive responses," said Dr. James Perry, a board member and president-elect of the county medical society. "All of the practices have expressed an interest to be involved, even if it was just passing out literature. I think everybody in some way will be active, although some more than others."

That "some more than others," Perry said, will take the form of doctors closing their offices anywhere from a half day to a day or even the whole week. During that time off, doctors are being asked to lobby their state legislators, to go to Harrisburg or to just get the word out about the problem.

Although a walkout could affect everything from routine office visits to elective surgeries, Perry said Mercer County residents shouldn't be concerned about the level of care they can expect to receive that week.

"As always, the physicians continue to put our patients first," Perry said. "Physicians know they're required to have backup coverage if they're taking time off. And the hospitals are making it clear they have to have coverage. UPMC Horizon put out a letter to physicians agreeing there needs to be some reforms, but reminding them they need to have appropriate coverage for patients during that week."

Sharon Regional Health System issued a similar statement this week, supporting the need for medical liability reform but assuring the public that doctors would be available to care for their patients in the hospital while also continuing to provide full access to emergency medical and surgical care.

A spokesperson for United Community Hospital in Pine Township said administrators there are aware of the medical society's plans but were unavailable for comment Friday.

Perry, an internist at Greenville Medical Center, 90 Shenango St., said for some patients office closings might have the same impact as trying to track down a physician on a Sunday.

"People may not be able to call their own physician and they won't be told to just come on in," he explained. "They may have to wait and they may have to see someone else. In cases of serious illness obviously they would have to be seen in an emergency room. Either way, patients will be continued to be cared for. The real potential that week is for it to be inconvenient for patients compared to what they're used to during a typical week."

The Mercer County Medical Society is expected to take out full-page ads in all three county newspapers, including The Herald, before April 30 to "get the word out to patients," Perry said.

"The message from the Mercer County Medical Society to patients is that their ability to continue to receive affordable, timely care is in jeopardy," he said, regarding the upcoming ad. "We also want to let them know what we think we need and we're asking them for their help by contacting our legislators."

Perry said his group at the Greenville Medical Center will not close for any period of time, but instead will use the week to ask patients for their support, inform them how to lobby on behalf of reform and explain where physicians stand on the issues.

Doctors say exploding malpractice insurance premiums, which increased by more than 50 percent last year for many doctors, have put them in a financial bind, the Associated Press reported.

"I know of physicians who had to close their practices because they couldn't afford their malpractice insurance," Perry said.

Since 2001, about 900 physicians have either left the state, retired early or stopped performing high-risk procedures to avoid paying annual premiums as high as $200,000, according to the Pennsylvania Medical Society.

The idea to conduct a protest of some form was revived at a March 1 meeting of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, according to the AP. About 50 organizations participated. Perry and many colleagues, however, are unsure if this comparatively mild form of protest will work.

"That unfortunately is the nature of the beast," he said. "Medicine is very different from other professions. If physicians were just to walk off the job, people could potentially die. So I think all physicians take that responsibility very seriously."

You can e-mail Herald Political Writer Jeff Greenburg at jgreenburg@sharonherald.com.

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