A new study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital,
an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, found that the rate of paid
medical malpractice claims in the U.S. has declined by 55.7% over
the past two decades (1992-2014) while average payouts have
increased about 23%, based on data in the National Practitioner
Data Bank.
The study also found that the most common type of allegation was an
error in diagnosis (31.8% of all paid claims), followed by errors
related to surgery (26.9%) and errors related to medication or
treatment (24.5%).
The hospital's press release calls the study the first to
examine paid medical malpractice claims by physician specialty on a
national level. The results were published on March 27 in the American Medical
Association's publication, JAMA Internal Medicine.
For more articles and regular updates on legislative changes, regulatory developments and other news of interest to businesses, professionals and investors in the healthcare industry, please subscribe to Day Pitney's mailing lists.
Click here for more Healthcare Blogs from Day Pitney
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
