Once is too much, I’m sure, even though I have been lucky enough in my career to escape any malpractice filings. Nonetheless, the AMA has released some interesting data from the 2007-2008 Physician Practice Information (PPI) survey on medical liability. AMA broke down their data from the survey by specialty on four measures of claim frequency:

• The percentage of physicians that have ever been subject to a liability claim in their career to date (“ever sued”);
• The percentage that have been sued two or more times;
• The percentage that have been sued in the last 12 months; and
• The number of claims per 100 physicians (career to date).

The results are not surprising, but eye opening none-the-less. Cardiology has one of the higher rates across the board (49.4% ever sued; 29.8% sued two or more times; 3.3% sued in the last 12 months; 110 claims/100 doctors). Check out the PDF link below for more.

And, be aware that the ACC is working on tort reform legislation, and also is using our new Risk Management Institute to use both educational tools and other ways to reduce risks of suits and costs of coverage for our members. Check out cardiosource.org/RMI for more on this program.

Medical Liability Claim Frequency.pdf (25.81 kb)