Page 13 - Diagnostic Radiology - Interpreting the Risks Part One

SVMIC Diagnostic Radiology: Interpreting the Risks

• The most expensive medical factor noted in radiology

claims also was error in diagnosis, which accounted for
more than $262 million of indemnity paid – 75 percent of

the total indemnity paid for all radiology claims.

• Approximately 37 percent of the closed claims involved

errors in diagnosis and resulted in an average indemnity
payment of $379,113.

• Death was the most prevalent severity of injury reported,

and minor permanent injury was the most expensive for
radiology claims.

• Patient death occurred in 26 percent of the radiology

incidents, while 26 percent was the figure for patient death

claims in all other healthcare specialties combined.

While the MPL (PIAA) study is one of the most comprehensive

national studies of radiology claims in the United States by
an insurance association, regional professional liability carrier

studies have yielded similar results. For example, Coverys
insurance agency recently analyzed more than 10,000 of its

closed claims for a five-year period covering 2013-2017. The
report included key findings, such as the fact that around 15

percent of malpractice claims with a diagnosis-related allegation
involved radiologists — a percentage second only to general

medicine providers. Eighty percent of diagnosis-related claims
resulted from the misinterpretation of clinical tests, the authors

wrote, and more than 80 percent of those cases in radiology
involved either serious injury or death. According to the data,
2
among those radiology claims alleging diagnostic failure, cancer
misdiagnoses were most common, with breast, lung, pancreatic,

2 https://www.radiologybusiness.com/topics/policy/80-radiology-related-malpractice-claims-injury

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