Research recently published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) found that American physicians who utilized greater medical resources, face fewer malpractice claims. The stated motivation for the study was to “explore whether greater resource use, defensively motivated or not, is associated with reduced malpractice claims.” This research confirms that ordering more tests indeed reduce malpractice claims. However, this research does not determine whether the “defensive medicine” or more thorough and comprehensive health care provided by physicians correlated with better overall patient care.
Researchers compared data on 19 million Florida hospital admissions between 2000 and 2009 to the malpractice history of more than 24,000 physicians in seven specialties. The researchers found 4,342 malpractice claims were filed against physicians (2.8 percent), with the most filed against those specializing in pediatrics, general surgery, and obstetrics and gynecology. Across all specialties, physicians who ordered more tests that resulted in higher healthcare spending per patient were hit with fewer malpractice suits.
The study’s findings suggest that greater use of resources—whether it reflects defensive medicine or more comprehensive care—is associated with fewer malpractice claims. Researchers concluded “[t]he study shows that we need to better understand defensive medicine and how this type of practice impacts both patients and physicians.”
The full study can be found here:
[Physician spending and subsequent risk of malpractice claims: observational study](http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h5516)
How the results of this study are interpreted depends largely depends on which side of the tort reform debate the reader is on. Individuals and organizations that seeking to impose tort reform will claim this study is evidence that medical malpractice claims unnecessarily increase the cost of medicine. The individuals and groups opposing tort reform will claim that this study underscores the fact that medical malpractice claims ensure that physicians provide quality care to their patients. However, careful review of this study, and its results, demonstrate that this study is limited in scope, and the only conclusion is that physicians who order more tests face fewer lawsuits. Accordingly, the results of this study are insufficient to support either side of the tort reform debate.
