Defensive Medicine Among High-Risk Specialist Physicians in a Volatile Malpractice Environment

Quantifying the defensive medicine contribution to primary care costs

“…In contrast, others 6,7 have found that tort reforms have little impact on medical decisions and do not produce significant cost savings. Survey studies employing self-reporting or hypothetical scenarios have also produced conflicting results [8][9][10] . All attest to the difficulty of assessing the direct cost of defensive medicine.…”

Malpractice in Mexico: arbitration not litigation

“…A lucrative industry has developed around this phenomenon. In response, doctors buy expensive insurance, which seriously affects their medical practice, summarised in the concept of “defensive medicine.”3 The practice of defensive medicine includes ordering excessive diagnostic procedures and consultations to minimise the risks of being sued 4. Consequently, the cost of medical care increases, promoting resentment in patients, which in turn favours lawsuits, creating a vicious circle 5…”

Evaluation of hospital factors associated with hospital postoperative venous thromboembolism imaging utilisation practices

“…Medicolegal risk has long been implicated as a driver of imaging studies,25 and imaging utilisation has been cited as the most common form of defensive medicine 26. As a proxy for the severity of risk associated with clinical uncertainty, we used the 2010 CMS Malpractice Geographic Practice Cost Index (MPGPCI), which measures the relative costs of medical practice within a county attributable to malpractice.…”