Most preventable medical errors do not result in a paid claim
Paid physician malpractice claims for adverse events in 2009 (from Bishop, Ryan & Casalino in this week’s JAMA): Inpatient 4910 Outpatient 4448 Both 966 Total 10,739 By way of comparison (my calculations): Incidence Number of US hospitals 5,795 <1 per hospital/year Number of admissions 37,479,709 0.
