Malpractice claims on emergency physicians: time and money.
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.


OBJECTIVE
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.


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Cohen
Darien
D
Emergency Medicine Residency Program, Resurrection Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois 60631, USA.
Chan
Shu B
SB
Dorfman
Marc
M
D003675:Defensive Medicine / Q000379:methods; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000191:economics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D006801:Humans; D007087:Illinois; D007351:Insurance, Liability / Q000191:economics*; D008318:Malpractice / Q000191:economics*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors