Accountability sought by patients following adverse events from medical care: the New Zealand experience

Bismark, Marie; Dauer, Edward A.; Paterson, Ron; Studdert, David M.

doi:10.1503/cmaj.060429

Cited by 102 publications

(84 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Bismark et al, [25] examined a New Zealand system similar to that of France. Here the ratio of compensation requests (without regard to fault of the doctor) to non-compensation requests (alleging fault in care but would not receive compensation for this) was 3.3 to 1, even though both requests could be pursued at the same time.…”

Section: Data Analysis Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Empirical comparisons of malpractice claims of different medical specialties

Reich¹,

Schatzberg²

2015

J Public Health Aspects

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Background: Variables affecting malpractice rates are important to the medical profession. Empirical data on trends in malpractice payments and settlements from anesthesiologists, surgeons, pediatricians and psychiatrists over an eight-year period are publicly available for analysis. Methods: A literature search of PubMed and Index Medicus was conducted for the years from 1985 to 2013 using the search terms National Practitioner Data Bank, physicians, and malpractice. Data from the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) calculated proxy variables for the different specialties for the years 2004 to 2011 for frequency of malpractice settlements and mean settlement per incident. Results: The literature review revealed both systemic and individual factors related to the incidence of malpractice lawsuits and settlements. Systemic factors included the "fault" system of malpractice and high and low risk specialties. A recurring theme of individual factors was failure to make the correct diagnosis. The NPDB rates of malpractice and payments over the study period declined for all specialties. The trend in improvements differed somewhat by specialty. Conclusions: Although individual factors might be amenable to improvement by the individual physician, systemic factors are beyond the control of the individual practitioner and would need to be managed on a public policy basis.

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Section: Data Analysis Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Empirical comparisons of malpractice claims of different medical specialties

Reich¹,

Schatzberg²

2015

J Public Health Aspects

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“…Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the United States have somewhat more experience in implementing programs to help health care professionals meet the challenge of disclosing medical errors. [24][25][26] Physicians now have an opportunity to change the historical paradigm of never discussing medical errors with patients. The environment is clearly changing toward supporting physicians in effective and full disclosure.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disclosing medical errors to patients: a status report in 2007

Levinson¹,

Gallagher²

2007

Canadian Medical Association Journal

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“…Previous research shows that families who experience the serious medical injury of a loved one are often motivated to pursue medicolegal action by a desire to understand what happened and ensure it does not happen to anyone else. 25,26 An alternative explanation for our findings is that coroners' courts may use internal rules or guidelines in assessing cases that are candidates for inquest; if this happened, the patterns of inquest we saw may simply reflect the content of such decision-making tools. Based on the inquiries made in the five jurisdictions included in our analyses, we determined that two use internal guidelines.…”

Section: Comparison With Other Studiesmentioning

confidence: 90%

Factors predicting coroners’ decisions to hold discretionary inquests

Walter

Bugeja

Spittal

et al. 2012

CMAJ

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Research CMAJBackground: Coroners in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and other countries in the Commonwealth hold inquests into deaths in two situations. Mandatory inquests are held when statutory rules dictate they must be; discretionary inquests are held based on the decisions of individual coroners. Little is known as to how and why coroners select particular deaths for discretionary inquests. Methods:We analyzed the deaths investigated by Australian coroners for a period of seven and one-half years in five jurisdictions. We classified inquests as mandatory or discretionary. After excluding mandatory inquests, we used logistic regression analysis to identify the factors associated with coroners' decisions to hold discretionary inquests. Results:Of 20 379 reported deaths due to external causes, 1252 (6.1%) proceeded to inquest.Of these inquests, 490 (39.1%) were mandatory and 696 (55.6%) were discretionary. In unadjusted analyses, the rates of discretionary inquests varied widely in terms of age of the decedent and cause of death. In adjusted analyses, the odds of discretionary inquests declined with the age of the decedent; the odds were highest for children (odds ratio [OR] 2.17, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.54-3.06) and lowest for people aged 65 years and older (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.28-0.51). Using poisoning as a reference cause of death, the odds of discretionary inquests were highest for fatal complications of medical care (OR 12.83,) and lowest for suicides (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.30-0.65).Interpretation: Deaths that coroners choose to take to inquest differ systematically from those they do not. Although this vetting pro cess is invisible, it may influence the public's understanding of safety risks, fatal injury and death. Abstract

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Accountability sought by patients following adverse events from medical care: the New Zealand experience

Cited by 102 publications

References 17 publications

Empirical comparisons of malpractice claims of different medical specialties

Empirical comparisons of malpractice claims of different medical specialties

Disclosing medical errors to patients: a status report in 2007

Factors predicting coroners’ decisions to hold discretionary inquests

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