Medical Malpractice Concerns and Defensive Medicine

Defensive Medicine and Medical Malpractice

Defensive Medicine and Medical Malpractice (Part 6 of 19)

A lthough it is impossible to measure with much Precision the extent of defensive medicine, the evidence summarized in Chapter 3 implies that it is neither a trivial nor a major contributor to health care costs. This chapter examines how different approaches to reforming the medical malpractice system might affect the frequency of defensive medicine. The chapter examines the potential for tort ...

Defensive Medicine and Medical Malpractice (Part 4 of 19)

D espitc widespread use of the term in the current health policy debate, there is limited understanding of-—let alone consensus on-the true nature of defensive medicine. This chapter explores the concept of defensive medic inc. First, it sets forth the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA’s) definition and compares it with alternative approaches to defining defensive medicine. Second. it explor...

Physician Asset Protection , Malpractice Insurance , and Defensive Medicine ∗

Malpractice insurance provides for payments to patients so that a physician need not compensate harmed patients from personal assets. The bankruptcy system also protects a debtor's assets from seizure by creditors. In this paper, we estimate the e ect of personal asset protection on physician practice decisions. Variation in bankruptcy law provides exogenous variation in risk to physician perso...

The Ecology of Defensive Medicine and Malpractice Litigation

Using an evolutionary game, we show that patients and physicians can interact with predator-prey relationships. Litigious patients who seek compensation are the 'predators' and physicians are their 'prey'. Physicians can adapt to the risk of being sued by performing defensive medicine. We find that improvements in clinical safety can increase the share of litigious patients and leave unchanged ...