Page 7 - 2022 Risk Basics - Radiology

SVMIC Risk Basics: Radiology

Introduction

The money and personal commitment you’ve made to becoming a
physician can be imperiled by a single incident creating a long, costly,

and stressful situation. This course will guide you through some
preventative steps you can take to identify potential pitfalls before they

result in patient harm that will not only improve patient safety but also
reduce your chances of being named in a malpractice suit.

Interventional radiology originated as a subspecialty of diagnostic
radiology but is now a therapeutic and diagnostic specialty that

comprises a wide range of minimally invasive, image-guided therapeutic
procedures, as well as invasive diagnostic imaging. Accordingly, this

specialty presents its own unique and varied challenges in the area of risk
management in addition to those encountered by diagnostic radiologists.

Because the variety and extent of clinical procedures by interventionalists
are too numerous for this one-hour course, the risks associated with

those specific procedures will not be discussed.

Radiology Risk: By the Numbers

The Medical Professional Liability Association (MPL Association),

formerly the Physician Insurers Association of America (PIAA), reviewed
reported malpractice claims and lawsuit data between the years 1991 and

2015 as part of its Specialty Specific Series — Radiology, published in
2016. Data was collected through the Data Sharing Project, comprised of
1
20 participating member medical malpractice insurers, and was limited
to only physician claims. The data was used to quantify the proportion of

closed claims that resulted in indemnity payments (specifying average,
median, and largest payment amounts) and average defense expenses.

What did the data show?

1 PIAA Specialty Specific Series — Radiology, 2016 Edition/January 1, 2006 - December 31, 2015.

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