| Malpractice claims on emergency physicians: time and money. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 19062228 Owner: NLM Status: In-Data-Review |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Background: Emergency medicine, with its limited time for patient encounters, unpredictable flow, and lack of a continuing patient-physician relationship, is a particularly high-risk field with regards to the issue of medical liability. There have been limited studies on the financial and time exposure emergency physicians face when confronted with a liability suit. Objectives: Provide practicing physicians with guidance as to what can be expected if they are confronted with a medical malpractice claim, and contribute to the literature as the issue of tort reform is debated. Methods: Retrospective study of all closed malpractice claims involving emergency physicians insured by the Illinois State Medical Inter-insurance Exchange covering the 10-year period 1995 to 2004. Results: Of 450 claims, there were 200 cases served. The median incident-to-close time was 45.5 months (interquartile range [IQR] 30.6-69.9). The median expense per claim served was $14,091 (IQR $3448-$44,363); 19.5% of cases resulted in an indemnity with a median of $220,000 (IQR $117,500-$700,000). Cases in which an indemnity was eventually made tended to be filed 7.7 months faster (p = 0.065) and took 14.1 months longer to close (p < 0.05). In cases with a payout of ≥ $1,000,000, 80% were in the ≤ 1-year age group. Conclusion: In this study, emergency physicians with malpractice suits can expect resolution of the case to take over 45 months after an alleged incident, and their malpractice insurer will incur over $14,000 in expenses regardless of the suit outcome. Cases involving patients aged ≤ 1 year may incur higher indemnity payments. |
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Authors:
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Darien Cohen; Shu B Chan; Marc Dorfman |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article Date: 2008-12-04 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: The Journal of emergency medicine Volume: 42 ISSN: 0736-4679 ISO Abbreviation: J Emerg Med Publication Date: 2012 Jan |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2012-01-23 Completed Date: - Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 8412174 Medline TA: J Emerg Med Country: United States |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 22-7 Citation Subset: IM |
Copyright Information:
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Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
Affiliation:
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Emergency Medicine Residency Program, Resurrection Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois. |
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From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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