Patient Complaints and Malpractice Risk

Abstract

Conventional wisdom holds that a physician's malpractice experience is determined by factors associated with the physician, caseload, and unpredictable circumstances. One risk factor for lawsuits is area of specialty, a belief confirmed actuarially in the setting of malpractice rates.^1,2 Even within a given discipline, however, some physicians are sued more often than others. Sloan et al³ observed disproportionate malpractice activity among internists, obstetricians, and surgeons, with 2% to 8% of these specialists accounting for 75% to 85% of their group's award and settlement costs.