The average physician spends 50.7 months, or roughly 11 percent, of a 40-year career with an unresolved and open malpractice claim, according to a new study from Health Affairs.
Study authors obtained data for 40,916 physicians across the country who were covered by a large, physician-owned liability insurer. They found the length of time between the date a claim was filed and the date it was resolved, or time to resolution, increased with the severity of the patient injury.
For instance, 51 percent of claims for emotional injury were resolved within 6 months to one year. For claims involving a fatality or permanent disability, 62 percent took at least one year to resolve, and 17 percent took three or more years.
Researchers also found time to settle claims varied depending on the physician's age or his/her specialty.
On average, claims were solved more quickly for younger physicians. Claims for physicians ages 30 to 39 were resolved within an average of 16 months, while that increased to 21 months for physicians over the age of 50.
The length of time between the date a claim was filed and the date it was resolved was greatest for pediatrics and obstetrics and shortest for nephrology and oncology.
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Study authors obtained data for 40,916 physicians across the country who were covered by a large, physician-owned liability insurer. They found the length of time between the date a claim was filed and the date it was resolved, or time to resolution, increased with the severity of the patient injury.
For instance, 51 percent of claims for emotional injury were resolved within 6 months to one year. For claims involving a fatality or permanent disability, 62 percent took at least one year to resolve, and 17 percent took three or more years.
Researchers also found time to settle claims varied depending on the physician's age or his/her specialty.
On average, claims were solved more quickly for younger physicians. Claims for physicians ages 30 to 39 were resolved within an average of 16 months, while that increased to 21 months for physicians over the age of 50.
The length of time between the date a claim was filed and the date it was resolved was greatest for pediatrics and obstetrics and shortest for nephrology and oncology.
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