Although the payout amounts for malpractice claims are increasing, the number of total malpractice payments are in decline, according to reports made at the American College of Surgeons 97th Annual Clinical Congress.

Kentucky medical malpractice experts and their peers note, though, that payment trends can vary widely from one state to the next, suggesting that the result of a malpractice claim depends, to a large degree, on the impact of local legal professionals and the legal environment of the area.

Current data suggests that between two and three percent of patients suffer medical harm caused by the negligence of medical professionals. Only half of these individuals, however, receive compensation for their suffering, suggesting a flaw somewhere in the system designed to protect patients from malpractice and award them damages when they have been wronged.

The data was gathered from the National Practitioner Data Bank, which gathers data produced from the mandatory reporting system of medical malpractice incidents. It considers all data related to adverse situations caused by or related to licensure limitations, federal programs, professional society membership and clinical privileges. The examined data covers all malpractice reports since 1990, with the exception of malpractice claims made by individual practitioners.

The goal of the researchers examining the data is to determine what variables affect the size of surgical malpractice payments. This could help medical organizations better predict which malpractice claims are likely to result in large payments.

The resulting data has several interpretations being weighed by medical experts. While the lower amount of medical malpractice payments suggests that surgery has become safer in recent years, the increased payouts may alternatively suggest that when malpractice does occur, it is more serious and permanently damaging in nature.

Source: Medscape, "Surgical malpractice claims drop, but pay-outs increase" Caroline Helwick, Nov. 14, 2011