The report analyzed the causes of diagnosis-related claims based on an analysis of 10,618 closed medical professional liability claims at Coverys from 2013-17.
Here are four findings from the report.
1. Diagnosis-related events accounted for 33 percent of medical professional liability claims and 47 percent of indemnity payments.
2. Out of the 3,466 closed claims with diagnosis-related allegations during the report’s five-year period, claims involving cancer were the most prevalent (27 percent), followed by infections (13 percent), cardiac/vascular conditions (8 percent), fractures/dislocations (5 percent) and myocardial infarctions (4 percent).
3. The report revealed most diagnostic errors take place in outpatient settings, with 35 percent of diagnostic errors occurring in non-emergency department outpatient settings, such as physicians’ offices or clinics. Twenty-four percent of diagnosis-related claims took place in the ED and urgent care facilities.
4. When examining claims by provider type, the majority of diagnosis-related claims came from general medicine (24 percent) and hospital/facility-related claims (19 percent), followed by radiology (14 percent), medical subspecialties such as neurology and gastroenterology (11 percent) and emergency medicine (11 percent).
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