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A Descriptive Study of Pulmonology-Related Medical Malpractice Claims
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A7764 - A Descriptive Study of Pulmonology-Related Medical Malpractice Claims
Author Block: L. Myers1, J. Skillings2, L. Heard2, J. Metlay3, E. Mort3; 1Division of Pulmonary/Critical Care, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States, 2Controlled Risk Insurance Company, Boston, MA, United States, 3Division of General Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States.
Rationale: Little is known about what types of medical malpractice claims are filed against pulmonary physicians, even though this knowledge may provide opportunities for risk reduction.
Methods: We analyzed closed claims between 2007-2016 from the Comparative Benchmarking System, which is a privately-owned and validated database that contains 30% of all malpractice claims filed in the U.S. Unlike the National Practitioner Data Bank, it contains all claims, regardless of disposition or payment. All costs are expressed in 2016 U.S. dollars using the National Consumer Price Index.
Results: Of 54,699 claims, 430 have pulmonologists as the primary responsible provider. Pulmonology was the 27th most common specialty to be named out of 63 provider categories. The majority of claims resulted in harm severity of death (59.3%) and occurred in the inpatient setting (61.9%). Only 26.0% of claims occurred in the ICU setting. The most common allegation categories were medical treatment (43.3%) and diagnosis-related (37.2%). Only 26.0% of claims were paid (either through settlement or plaintiff verdict). Of paid claims, the most common final diagnosis was lung cancer (16.0%), and the most common contributing factor was a failure/delay in ordering a diagnostic test (34.8%). A procedure was involved in only 31.2% of claims but the most common were intubation (5.4%) and thoracentesis (4.5%). The total indemnity payment for pulmonology-related claims was $59.4 million with an average indemnity of $530,000 per paid claim. Additionally, $30.4million was spent in administrative costs, over half of which went toward claims that did not result in indemnity payment.
Conclusions: Overall, pulmonologists are not frequently involved in claims relative to other specialties, but the severity of harm is high when they are. While most harms occur in the inpatient setting, only a quarter occurs in the ICU. Most of the claims do not result in an indemnity payment, yet these unpaid claims contribute to more than half of the administrative cost.
Author Block: L. Myers1, J. Skillings2, L. Heard2, J. Metlay3, E. Mort3; 1Division of Pulmonary/Critical Care, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States, 2Controlled Risk Insurance Company, Boston, MA, United States, 3Division of General Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States.
Rationale: Little is known about what types of medical malpractice claims are filed against pulmonary physicians, even though this knowledge may provide opportunities for risk reduction.
Methods: We analyzed closed claims between 2007-2016 from the Comparative Benchmarking System, which is a privately-owned and validated database that contains 30% of all malpractice claims filed in the U.S. Unlike the National Practitioner Data Bank, it contains all claims, regardless of disposition or payment. All costs are expressed in 2016 U.S. dollars using the National Consumer Price Index.
Results: Of 54,699 claims, 430 have pulmonologists as the primary responsible provider. Pulmonology was the 27th most common specialty to be named out of 63 provider categories. The majority of claims resulted in harm severity of death (59.3%) and occurred in the inpatient setting (61.9%). Only 26.0% of claims occurred in the ICU setting. The most common allegation categories were medical treatment (43.3%) and diagnosis-related (37.2%). Only 26.0% of claims were paid (either through settlement or plaintiff verdict). Of paid claims, the most common final diagnosis was lung cancer (16.0%), and the most common contributing factor was a failure/delay in ordering a diagnostic test (34.8%). A procedure was involved in only 31.2% of claims but the most common were intubation (5.4%) and thoracentesis (4.5%). The total indemnity payment for pulmonology-related claims was $59.4 million with an average indemnity of $530,000 per paid claim. Additionally, $30.4million was spent in administrative costs, over half of which went toward claims that did not result in indemnity payment.
Conclusions: Overall, pulmonologists are not frequently involved in claims relative to other specialties, but the severity of harm is high when they are. While most harms occur in the inpatient setting, only a quarter occurs in the ICU. Most of the claims do not result in an indemnity payment, yet these unpaid claims contribute to more than half of the administrative cost.
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