CHARACTERISTICS OF SURGEONS WITH HIGH AND LOW MALPRACTICE CLAIMS RATES

We studied the relationship of malpractice claims and the personal, ed ucational, and practice characteristics of a sample of surgeons (n = 4 27). The surgeons were members of a physician-owned malpractice trust and represented all those who had fewer than 0.13 malpractice claims p er year and those with more than 0.54 claims per year. Data are report ed separately for orthopedic surgeons (148), obstetrician-gynecologist s (115), and a mixed group of other surgeons (164). The last group inc luded otolaryngologists, neurosurgeons, and general, vascular, thoraci c, and plastic surgeons. We studied the relationship between the numbe r of malpractice claims (ranging from no history of claims to those te rminated from the trust because of high rates of claims) and the surge ons' personal, educational, and practice characteristics. The major di fferences were between the surgeons who were terminated because of a h igh number of claims and those with few or no claims. Terminated surge ons were less likely to have completed a fellowship, belong to a clini cal faculty, be members of professional societies, be graduates of an American or Canadian medical school, have specialty board certificatio n, or be in a group practice. The data also suggest that orthopedists with high numbers of claims may be less likely to have a religious aff iliation or to have a registered nurse working in their office practic e. These findings suggest that surgeons with lower claim rates may be more likely to manifest exemplary modes of professional peer relations hips and responsible clinical behavior.