In this edition of The Wired Practice video, originally published for MedPage Today, 乐鱼体育 CEO Ron Harman King discusses how healthcare systems and practices often promise a great patient experience but often fall short.
By Ron Harman King, MS, JD, CEO
Studies of gender differences in practice yield clues for the malpractice lawsuit numbers
A new analysis of lawsuits against doctors yields both surprising and anticipated results. According to the聽, nearly one-third, or 31.2%, of U.S. physicians reported they had been sued.
I find such a high rate at least mildly surprising, given the common sentiment among medical-malpractice attorneys that winnable cases against physicians are extremely few and far between.
Not so surprising to me is that two-thirds of civil liability claims are dropped, dismissed, or withdrawn without a finding of fault. Moreover, when a suit goes all the way to a jury, the defendant doc statistically has nearly a 90% chance of winning, according to the AMA.
That number comports with other research findings. A 聽found that plaintiffs in general succeed in trial less than 5% of the time.
Other studies聽report that civil cases are settled before trial at a rate ranging from 27% for constitutional tort cases (allegations of a violation of constitutional rights by a state or municipal employee) up to nearly 90% for all tort cases (civil lawsuits).
American Medical Association shows surgical specialties garner most medical malpractice suits
No doubt least surprising from the AMA analysis is the finding that surgical specialties are at highest risk of lawsuits and internal medical subspecialists are at lowest risk. About 62% of OB-GYNs and 59% of general surgeons have been sued in their careers to date. In contrast, only 7% of allergists/immunologists and 8% of hematologists/oncologists have faced suits.
Another non-surprise is the factors of age and years of experience. Nearly half of doctors 鈥� 46.8% 鈥� over the age of 54 have been sued, a rate approximately five times that of suits against doctors younger than 40. It makes arithmetic sense that the longer you practice, the more patients you treat and the higher the odds are that someone鈥檚 not going to be happy with his or her outcome.
Women doctors face fewer malpractice claims than male counterparts
This brings us to pretty much unarguably the most surprising finding: Women physicians on average face barely half as many claims as men doctors 鈥� 42 claims per 100 physicians, contrasted to 75 per 100 for their male counterparts. Not only are female practitioners sued about two-thirds as often as the guys, but when they are, on average each bears fewer legal complaints. In sum, that means women physicians are sued barely half as much as men doctors.
This discrepancy should unleash considerable speculation about what accounts for the difference. I offer several explanations.
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Obvious & less obvious reasons for more medical lawsuits against male doctors
First, we鈥檙e all aware that surgeons are overwhelmingly male. For example, as of 2022,聽, whereas 65% of pediatricians are women. The AMA finds that the same is true for neurosurgeons, of which聽more than four in five are me, as well as for thoracic surgery, with a 78% male presence.
The OB-GYN specialty is a bit of an exception, given that a sizeable portion perform surgery; the genders of obstetricians and gynecologists are split fairly evenly, at a ratio of聽53-to-47 male-to-female. On the other hand,聽plastic surgeons are 87% male, and vascular surgeons are 92% male.
Okay, those are more obvious facts. A little less evident is the fact that women doctors conduct about聽11% fewer patient visits and work 2.6% fewer clinical days. Additionally, female physicians take off from work for childcare聽more than three times as often聽as their male colleagues. Fewer patient encounters correlates, of course, to lower odds of generating unhappy patients.
But where the all-weather rubber tread really meets the road lies in societal costs. First, legal proceedings boost insurance premiums聽and deplete justice-system resources.
Female physician’s style of healthcare may reduce malpractice suits
Then there鈥檚 the cost savings in the style of healthcare. Research has shown that female physicians ask their patients . One study further found that聽women doctors provide more preventive care and give more counseling聽than the men. They also score聽higher on empathy scales,聽use more egalitarian language and use less jargon聽in patient interactions.
Yet where it really adds up in terms of patient satisfaction as well as economically is in hospital clinical outcomes. Patients of women hospitalists generally聽achieve lower readmission and mortality rates聽than patients of male doctors.
Then there’s classical sexism at play
However, let鈥檚 also acknowledge the ugly persistence of classical sexism. One study聽found that patients perceived women doctors as more domineering than the men whenever they sit too close to patients, speak more often and/or more loudly, look more often at their computers, ask too many questions, or disagree with patients. Gender bias cuts two ways and dies hard.
Nevertheless, on balance it appears a safe bet that women make better doctors in at least one respect: patient satisfaction. It鈥檚 a given that patients who get more doctor time, more counseling, more empathy, more preventive care,聽and experience fewer hospital admissions will be less litigious patients.
The benefits are bountiful. Fewer lawsuits help curb providers鈥� insurance premiums, ease the heartache of medical practice, unclog the courts, and reduce lawyer ambulance chasing. Next time I see my favorite doctor, I鈥檒l be sure to thank her for it.