Hospital Administration News & Articles

1 Malpractice Risk Among US Pediatricians Pediatrics, May 10, 2013
Jena AB et al. – To characterize malpractice risk among US pediatricians. Indemnity payments among pediatricians are infrequent but large, particularly in cases with permanent patient injury rather than death or temporary injury. The time required to resolve claims may be considered to be long. Methods The authors analyzed malpractice claims of all pediatricians and other physicians covered by a nationwide liability insurer from 1991 to 2005 (n = 1630 pediatricians; 40916 total ...

2 Malpractice risk among US pediatricians Pediatrics, June 7, 2013
Jena AB et al. – To characterize malpractice risk among US pediatricians. Indemnity payments among pediatricians are infrequent but large, particularly in cases with permanent patient injury rather than death or temporary injury. The time required to resolve claims may be considered to be long. Methods The authors analyzed malpractice claims of all pediatricians and other physicians covered by a nationwide liability insurer from 1991 to 2005 (n = 1630 pediatricians; 40?916 total ...

3 Ten Notable Physician-related Malpractice Statistics Physicians Practice, May 20, 2013
Westgate A - Which specialties face malpractice lawsuits most often? Which patients are most likely to sue you — and sue you successfully? How do malpractice payout amounts in your state compare to others? Most physicians will face a malpractice lawsuit at some point in their careers. More than 61 percent of doctors older than 55 have been sued at least once, according to the AMA. The finding, appearing in a 2010 report, is based on a survey of 5,825 physicians from the 2007-2008 ...

4 'Catastrophic' Malpractice Payouts Add Little to Health Cares Rising Costs Johns Hopkins Medicine, May 6, 2013
Still, study suggests, efforts needed to reduce errors that lead to claims. Efforts to lower health care costs in the United States have focused at times on demands to reform the medical malpractice system, with some researchers asserting that large, headline-grabbing and "frivolous" payouts are among the heaviest drains on health care resources. But a new review of malpractice claims by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests such assertions are wrong. In their review of malpractice payouts ...

5 Obesity and trends in malpractice claims for physicians and surgeons Surgery, June 18, 2013
Weber CE et al. - The increasing prevalence of obesity has altered the practice of medicine and surgery, with the emergence of new operations and medications. THe authors hypothesized that the landscape of medical malpractice claims has also changed. Recently, the percentage of paid general surgery obesity claims has significantly decreased; however, individual and total indemnity payments have increased. Obesity continues to impact general surgery malpractice substantially. Efforts to ...

6 Negligence, genuine error, and litigation International Journal of General Medicine, March 4, 2013
Sohn DH - This paper will discuss the differences between adverse events, negligence, and system errors; the current medical malpractice tort system in the United States; and review current and future solutions, including medical malpractice reform, alternative dispute resolution, health courts, and no-fault compensation systems. The current political environment favors investigation of non-cap tort reform remedies; investment into more rational oversight systems, such as ...

7 Minimizing the Risks of Audits, Malpractice Suits at Medical Practices Physicians Practice, March 25, 2013
Kennealy P et al. - They know from first-hand experience that it is all too easy to slip into a daily "scramble mode" in medical practice. Schedules are packed full, waiting rooms are bustling, and it is an effort to not fall behind. Little or no time is set aside to evaluate whether a medical practice is at risk of an audit. Before getting into granular details, there are some general principles of medical practice management that it behooves a physician to think about, to reduce ...

8 Physician accountability in iatrogenic cerebrospinal fluid leak litigation International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology, April 9, 2013
Kovalerchik O et al. - The potentially severe complications resulting from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak makes iatrogenic injury a medicolegal area of concern for otolaryngologists and neurosurgeons. The objectives of this analysis were to study legal outcomes as well as medical and nonmedical elements affecting malpractice litigation. Although a slight majority of cases were resolved in the defendant's favor, payments made were considerable, averaging approximately $1 million. ...

9 Wealth Protection in the Face of Medical Malpractice Physicians Practice, May 2, 2013
Stewart JK - Fifteen years into his career in emergency medicine, in the late 1990s, Mark Plaster had to decide whether to battle a malpractice case in court or agree to a settlement that would keep his financial exposure within his insurance coverage.

10 Physician health programmes and malpractice claims: reducing risk through monitoring Occupational Medicine, May 22, 2013
Brooks E et al. - The study aims to examine whether medical malpractice claims were associated with monitoring by a Physician health programme (PHP) using a retrospective examination of administrative data. This is the only study examining this issue to date. While there are a variety of reasons why physicians present to PHPs, this study demonstrates that treatment and monitoring is associated with a lowered risk of malpractice claims and suggests that patient care may be improved by PHP ...