Investigating medical malpractice victim compensation: micro-level evidence from a professional liability insurer's files

We examine micro-level data on medical incidents recorded by a major Belgian professional liability insurer to identify the predictors of medical malpractice victim compensation. The data allow us to track each instance of suspect medical malpractice from the moment of insurer's knowledge about...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The European journal of health economics 2019-11, Vol.20 (8), p.1249-1260
Main Authors: Bielen, Samantha, Grajzl, Peter, Marneffe, Wim
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Belgium
Compensation
Economic Policy
Economic theory
Health Care Management
Health Economics
Humans
Indemnity
Insurance Carriers - economics
Insurance companies
Liability
Liability, Legal - economics
Malpractice - economics
Malpractice - legislation & jurisprudence
Medical malpractice
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Original Research
Payments
Pharmacoeconomics and Health Outcomes
Professional liability
Public Finance
Public Health
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Summary:We examine micro-level data on medical incidents recorded by a major Belgian professional liability insurer to identify the predictors of medical malpractice victim compensation. The data allow us to track each instance of suspect medical malpractice from the moment of insurer's knowledge about the incident to file closure. We are, therefore, able to investigate the determinants of both the incidence and amount of indemnity payment while addressing the associated sample selection concerns. Conditional on some indemnity having been paid, provider specialty risk predicts the indemnity payment amount, but only via the effect of sustained injury type. We find little evidence of vertical or horizontal inequities in indemnity payment. Our results highlight previously overlooked features of the incident resolution process as quantitatively important predictors of victim compensation.
ISSN:1618-7598
1618-7601
DOI:10.1007/s10198-019-01093-8