Towers Watson has released its annual review of tort costs in the U.S., including yearly medical malpractice tort costs since 1975. The report estimated medical malpractice tort costs were $29.8 billion in 2010, the result of an average 9.7% increase annually since 1975. This compares to a 7.5% increase for all other tort cases during the same period. However, medical malpractice tort expenses have held fairly steady since 2006, declining slightly by 0.1% over the last five years.
The hospital portion of medical malpractice tort costs was $8.1 billion in 2010, a 26.3% increase over 2006. Physician costs comprised nearly $14.6 billion, a decline of 13.3% over the same five year timeframe.
Source: U.S. Tort Cost Trends; 2011 Update. Towers Watson, 2012. http://www.towerswatson.com/en/Insights/IC-Types/Survey-Research-Results/2012/01/2011-Update-on-US-Tort-Cost-Trends
Related resource: AON. Hospital Professional Liability and Physician Liability: 2011 Benchmark Analysis. American Society for Healthcare Risk Management, 2011. For more details and order info: http://ams.aha.org/EWEB/DynamicPage.aspx?WebCode=ProdDetailAdd&ivd_prc_prd_key=91e03479-7dc8-45da-a371-39a8c0e07290 UPDATE: 2012-2013 edition now available: http://ams.aha.org/EWEB/DynamicPage.aspx?WebCode=ProdDetailAdd&ivd_prc_prd_key=f96d3082-1414-4357-a34c-b0854b171a59
Posted by AHA Resource Center, (312) 422-2050, rc@aha.org
Filed under: Benchmarking, Hospital costs, Posted by Diana Culbertson | Tagged: medical malpractice liability costs |
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