Residency-trained ED docs less of a risk, study says
Residency-trained ED docs less of a risk, study says
Claims tell the tale
Physicians who are residency-trained in emergency medicine account for significantly fewer malpractice indemnity or settlement payouts of claims when compared with nonemergency medicine residency-trained physicians, according to a study published recently in the Journal of Emergency Medicine.
Written in part by Vincent Markovchick, MD, FAAEM, of the department of emergency medicine at the Denver Health Medical Center in Denver, the study retrospectively reviewed 428 closed malpractice claims made against emergency physicians in Colorado between 1982 and 1997.
Get to know your residency program
The study concluded that the lower malpractice indemnity incurred by physicians who are residency-trained in emergency medicine was not based on a difference in the average indemnity paid per closed claim, but instead was a result of significantly fewer closed claims with indemnity paid out against emergency medicine residency-trained physicians.
When analyzed per physician-year of malpractice, emergency medicine residency-trained physicians had an occurrence of closed claims resulting in indemnity payments that was less than half that of nonemergency medicine residency-trained physicians. Robert McNamara, MD, FAAEM, president of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine, says risk manag- ers should become familiar with their facility’s emergency medicine residency programs.
"With the recent release of the Institute of Medicine’s report on medical errors, emergency medicine has drawn attention because of a reported high rate of adverse events due to medical negligence," he says. "This important study adds to the substantial literature that patient safety in the emergency department has improved with the growth of emergency medicine residency programs and the increased number of board certi-fied emergency physicians. The public should be aware of the training and certification status of the emergency physicians in their local hospital."
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