Emergency Medicine Malpractice Claim Rates Are Decreasing, but Payment Amounts Are Increasing

Malpractice risk often colors U.S. physicians' decision making, even though studies have shown that a small percentage of physicians account for a significant portion of claims (NEJM JW Gen Med Nov 15 2016 and JAMA Intern Med 2016; 176:1866; Physician's First Watch Jan 28 2016 and N Engl J Med 2016; 374:354). Using the National Practitioner Data Bank, which reports paid malpractice claims against physicians, researchers compared rates and amounts (adjusted to 2014 dollars) of claims for all specialties from 1992 to 2014.

For all specialties combined, malpractice claim rates decreased 56% over the study period, from 20 to 9 claims per 1000 physician years. For emergency medicine, rates decreased 47%, from 24 to 13 claims per 1000 physician ye…