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The impact of medical errors on physician behavior: Evidence from malpractice litigation

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  • Shurtz, Ity

Abstract

How do medical errors affect physician behavior? Despite the importance of this question empirical evidence about it remains limited. This paper studies the impact of obstetricians’ medical errors that resulted in malpractice litigation on their subsequent choice of whether to perform a C-section, a common procedure that is thought to be sensitive to physician incentives. The main result is that C-section rates jumped discontinuously by 4% after a medical error, establishing an association between medical errors and treatment patterns. C-section rates continued to increase afterwards, bringing the cumulative increase 2.5 years after a medical error to 8%.

Suggested Citation

  • Shurtz, Ity, 2013. "The impact of medical errors on physician behavior: Evidence from malpractice litigation," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 331-340.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:32:y:2013:i:2:p:331-340
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2012.11.011
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David Dranove & Yasutora Watanabe, 2009. "Influence and Deterrence: How Obstetricians Respond to Litigation against Themselves and Their Colleagues," American Law and Economics Review, American Law and Economics Association, vol. 12(1), pages 69-94.
    2. repec:mpr:mprres:6496 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Jessica Wolpaw Reyes, 2010. "The Effect of Malpractice Liability on the Specialty of Obstetrics and Gynecology," NBER Working Papers 15841, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Epstein, Andrew J. & Nicholson, Sean, 2009. "The formation and evolution of physician treatment styles: An application to cesarean sections," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 1126-1140, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Barili, Emilia & Bertoli, Paola & Grembi, Veronica, 2021. "Neighborhoods, networks, and delivery methods," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    2. Sebastian Panthöfer, 2022. "Do doctors prescribe antibiotics out of fear of malpractice?," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(2), pages 340-381, June.
    3. Barili, Emilia & Bertoli, Paola & Grembi, Veronica, 2021. "Fee equalization and appropriate health care," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    4. David Card & Alessandra Fenizia & David Silver, 2019. "The Health Impacts of Hospital Delivery Practices," NBER Working Papers 25986, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Paola Bertoli & Veronica Grembi, 2018. "Medical Malpractice: How Legal Liability Affects Medical Decisions," Contributions to Economic Analysis, in: Health Econometrics, volume 127, pages 235-261, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    6. Howard, David H. & McCarthy, Ian, 2021. "Deterrence effects of antifraud and abuse enforcement in health care," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    7. Panthöfer, Sebastian, 2016. "Tort Reform and the Length of Physician Office Visits," UC3M Working papers. Economics 23861, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía.
    8. Jensen, Vibeke Myrup & Wüst, Miriam, 2015. "Can Caesarean section improve child and maternal health? The case of breech babies," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 289-302.
    9. Paola Bertoli & Veronica Grembi, 2017. "Exploring the Nexus between Certainty in Injury Compensation and Treatment Selection," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp603, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    10. Marina Di Giacomo & Massimiliano Piacenza & Luigi Siciliani & Gilberto Turati, 2017. "Do public hospitals respond to changes in DRG price regulation? The case of birth deliveries in the Italian NHS," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(S2), pages 23-37, September.
    11. Barili, E; & Bertoli, P; & Grembi, V;, 2020. "Title: Fees equalization and Appropriate Health Care," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 20/09, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    12. Costa-Ramón, Ana María & Rodríguez-González, Ana & Serra-Burriel, Miquel & Campillo-Artero, Carlos, 2018. "It's about time: Cesarean sections and neonatal health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 46-59.
    13. Sofia Amaral‐Garcia & Paola Bertoli & Veronica Grembi, 2015. "Does Experience Rating Improve Obstetric Practices? Evidence from Italy," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(9), pages 1050-1064, September.
    14. Buzzacchi, Luigi & Scellato, Giuseppe & Ughetto, Elisa, 2016. "Frequency of medical malpractice claims: The effects of volumes and specialties," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 152-160.
    15. Bertoli, Paola & Grembi, Veronica, 2019. "Malpractice risk and medical treatment selection," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 22-35.
    16. Bertoli, P.; Grembi, V.; Kazakis, P.;, 2017. "Healthy Immigrant Effect or Over-Medicalization of Pregnancy? Evidence from Birth Certificates," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 17/26, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    17. Aleksandr Proshin & Alexandre Cazenave-Lacroutz & Zeynep Or & Lise Rochaix, 2018. "Impact of Diagnosis Related Group Refinement on the Choice Between Scheduled Caesarean Section and Normal Delivery: Recent Evidence from France," Working Papers halshs-01812107, HAL.
    18. Michael Freeman & Susan Robinson & Stefan Scholtes, 2021. "Gatekeeping, Fast and Slow: An Empirical Study of Referral Errors in the Emergency Department," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(7), pages 4209-4232, July.
    19. Alex Proshin & Alexandre Cazenave‐Lacroutz & Lise Rochaix, 2023. "Impact of tariff refinement on the choice between scheduled C‐section and normal delivery: Evidence from France," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(7), pages 1397-1433, July.
    20. Javier Cano-Urbina & Daniel Montanera, 2017. "Do tort reforms impact the incidence of birth by cesarean section? A reassessment," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 103-112, March.
    21. Sofia Amaral-Garcia & Paola Bertoli & Veronica Grembi, 2015. "Does Experience Rating Improve Obstetric Practices? Evidence From Geographical Discontinuities in Italy," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp540, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    22. Grytten, Jostein & Skau, Irene & Sørensen, Rune, 2017. "The impact of the mass media on obstetricians’ behavior in Norway," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(9), pages 986-993.
    23. Amaral-Garcia, S. & Bertoli, P. & Grembi, V., 2014. "Does Experience Rating Improve Obstetric Practices? Evidence From Geographical Discontinuities," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 14/23, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Physician treatment styles; Peer effects;

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • K13 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Tort Law and Product Liability; Forensic Economics
    • K41 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Litigation Process

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