Characteristics of Medical Professional Liability Claims in Patients Treated by Family Medicine Physicians

The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine

William J. Oetgen¹  Frank T. Flannery²  Parul Divya Parikh³ 

[1] Department of Medicine, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC (WJO);Department of Legal Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Silver Spring, MD (FTF);Physician Insurers Association of America, Rockville, MD (PDP)

关键词: Medical Errors;    Malpractice;    Risk Management;    Medical Liability;   

DOI  :  10.3122/jabfm.2010.06.100056

学科分类：过敏症与临床免疫学

来源: The American Board of Family Medicine

【 摘 要 】

Objective: This study describes a large database of closed medical professional liability (MPL) claims involving family physicians in the United States. The purpose of this report is to provide information for practicing family physicians that will be useful in improving the quality of care, thereby reducing the incidence of patient injury and the consequent frequency of MPL claims.

Methods: The Physician Insurers Association of America (PIAA) established a registry of closed MPL claims in 1985. This registry contains data describing 239,756 closed claims in the United States through 2008. The registry is maintained for educational programs that are designed to improve quality of care and reduce patient injury MPL claims. We summarized this closed claims database.

Results: Of 239,756 closed claims, 27,556 (11.5%) involved family physicians. Of these 27,556 closed claims, 8797 (31.9%) resulted in a payment, and the average payment was $164,107. In the entire registry, 29.5% of closed claims were paid, and the average payment was $209,156. The most common allegation among family medicine closed claims was diagnostic error, and the most prevalent diagnosis was acute myocardial infarction, which represented 24.1% of closed claims with diagnostic errors. Diagnostic errors related to patients with breast cancer represented the next most common condition, accounting for 21.3% of closed claims with diagnostic errors.

Conclusions: MPL issues are common and are important to all practicing family physicians. Knowledge of the details of liability claims should assist practicing family physicians in improving quality of care, reducing patient injury, and reducing the incidence of MPL claims.

• Medical Errors
• Malpractice
• Risk Management
• Medical Liability

Family medicine is a unique specialty that deals with the treatment of both acute and chronic illnesses in adult and pediatric patient populations. As every family physician knows, this diverse practice experience can be both very challenging and, at the same time, extremely rewarding. In our litigious society, the risk of medical professional liability (MPL) claims in the practice of such a broad specialty is also a daily concern. An understanding of these liability risks can serve to facilitate risk management strategies used in family physicians’ daily practice. Evidence from other specialties supports the contention that educational efforts and other strategies aimed toward increasing practitioners’ understanding of their liability risks may reduce those risks.¹ The purpose of this article is to present a summary of the family MPL claims experience of a consortium of MPL insurance companies. The goals are to increase family physicians’ awareness of the specific details of the problem of medical liability and, in so doing, to improve the quality of patient care and to reduce the future incidence of MPL claims.

The data presented in this article were collected by the Physician Insurers Association of America (PIAA), which is headquartered in Rockville, MD. The PIAA is an association of 50 MPL insurance carriers that are owned and operated by physicians and dentists. PIAA-affiliated companies provide MPL insurance coverage for approximately 60% of physicians in private practice in the United States.²

【 授权许可】

Unknown   

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