From the desk of Araly Herrera-Borgen

Medical liability claims filed against healthcare providers continue to fall because of more patient-safety programs created by hospitals, according to a national study by AON Corporation in conjunction with the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management. Even though many physicians and care providers continue to complain about the number of medical-malpractice lawsuits filed against them and push for additional reforms, the frequency and severity of hospital claims are at new lows. The annual report represents the most comprehensive look at liability claims in the U.S. healthcare industry.

According to the AON study, the industry has seen no increase in the frequency of claims for the third straight year. Since the last edition of the study, the trend in the severity of claims has been cut in half. Liability losses are projected to be just three percent higher in 2008, down from six percent in the 2007 projection. The resulting loss cost trend is the lowest in the eight-year history of the study.

AON officials said that hospitals are creating patient-safety programs for emergency rooms and obstetric departments that typically include improved assessment for chest pain and fetal heart monitoring. The authors of the study predict that hospitals will spend less on liability judgments, partly because of the safety programs, and many will realize lower liability expenses in 2008.

The number of incidents related to both childbirth and emergency room visits have both continued a decline that began in 2001. The findings indicate:

• Hospital claims are at their lowest levels in eight years.
• Claim severity is increasing at just three percent annually – the lowest severity trend in eight years.
• For the third straight year, there has been no increase in the frequency of claims.
• Patient safety initiatives aimed at obstetrics and emergency departments are linked to reductions in the number of claims in those areas.
• Facilities that are recognized for their patient safety initiatives exhibit lower liability loss costs.

The study found that the number of claims per 10,000 births decreased from 9.4 in 2001 to 6.2 in 2006, and the number of claims per 100,000 emergency department visits dropped from 5.8 to 3.4 in that same period.

The news that malpractice claims are diminishing is not a surprise to medical malpractice attorneys. Lawsuits involving mishandled deliveries have helped to force hospitals to focus more on fetal heart monitoring and high-risk deliveries, and improvements in the assessment of patient symptoms in the emergency departments can also be traced to successful malpractice cases. The hospital safety initiatives focusing on these areas were in part brought about by the number of meritorious and important lawsuits during recent years, and the attorneys who took on these difficult cases should be proud to have helped to push for the changes that are improving patient safety.