Canadian medical malpractice liability: An empirical analysis of recent trends

The determinants of the frequency of Canadian malpractice claims, the proportion of claims that result in payment, and the severity of these claims are examined. Inter-specialty variation in the frequency of malpractice claims is almost entirely related to the differential performance of major surge...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of health economics 1991-07, Vol.10 (2), p.143-168
Main Authors: Coyte, Peter C, Dewees, Donald N, Trebilcock, Michael J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Canada
Economics, Medical
Factor Analysis, Statistical
Fees and Charges - trends
Health administration
Insurance Claim Reporting - statistics & numerical data
Insurance, Liability - utilization
Legal malpractice
Liability
Liability, Legal - economics
Litigation
Malpractice - trends
Medical malpractice
Medicine
Physician-Patient Relations
Physicians
Professional liability
Punitive damages
Quality of Health Care - legislation & jurisprudence
Risk
Social Environment
Specialization
Statistical analysis
Studies
Trends
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The determinants of the frequency of Canadian malpractice claims, the proportion of claims that result in payment, and the severity of these claims are examined. Inter-specialty variation in the frequency of malpractice claims is almost entirely related to the differential performance of major surgery. Various legal doctrines concerning both compensation and liability appear responsible for approximately half of the upward trend in the propensity to initiate malpractice litigation. We believe that the remaining explanations for growth in claims frequency are changes in social attitudes toward risk-bearing, increasing social distance between patients and physicians, and innovations in medical technology.
ISSN:0167-6296
1879-1646
DOI:10.1016/0167-6296(91)90002-5