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Jun 18, 2021
Study of Emergency Department Diagnosis Case Type Malpractice Claims: Abstract
Jacqueline Ross, RN, PhD, Coding Director, Department of Patient Safety and Risk Management
A study of diagnosis-type closed medical malpractice claims from care that occurred in the ED from 2014 through the second quarter of 2019 using closed coded claims from The Doctors Company.

Mar 01, 2024
Burnout and Litigation Against Primary Care Providers: Where Do They Overlap?
Jacqueline Ross, RN, PhD, Coding Director, and Robert Morton, MAS, CPPS, CPHRM, ARM, Assistant Vice President, Department of Patient Safety and Risk Management, The Doctors Company, Part of TDC Group
Certain trends in primary care suggest potential avenues for investigation into malpractice allegations. These include a worsening shortage of primary care physicians, an association between burnout and patient safety concerns, and the rise in both the number of women physicians and the rate of burnout among women physicians.

AM Best Affirms The Doctors Company's ‘A' Excellent Financial Rating and Upgrades the Financial Rating of Hospitals Insurance Company to ‘A’
AM Best has affirmed The Doctors Company's financial strength rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) and its long-term issuer credit rating (ICR) of "a+”. The outlook of these ratings is stable.

Jun 17, 2021
Deferred, Delayed, Disrupted: Mitigating Risks from Care During COVID-19
Richard E. Anderson, MD, FACP, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Doctors Company and TDC Group
The pandemic has disrupted healthcare so thoroughly that in some sense, COVID-19 has affected all of healthcare. The effect on care has been stunning in magnitude. By mid-2020, more than 40 percent of U.S. adults had delayed medical care or avoided it entirely, including care for urgent and emergent complaints.

Diagnostic Error
A list of articles, expert insights, and education on the risks of diagnostic error.

Practice Safety Culture Insight

Video Oct 28, 2021

What Clinical Support Tools Can Help Emergency Department Physicians Reduce Diagnostic Errors?
Emergency department systems and processes can increase or reduce the risk of diagnostic error. But instead of simply asking clinicians to work harder or smarter, what’s needed is the creation of a system of care that optimizes their ability to think and carry out an efficient work-up of a patient. Learn more from Jacqueline Ross, PhD, RN, CPAN, our coding director.

Charles E. Black, Jr.
Charlie Black is executive vice president and sales manager of Willis of Ohio's professional liability department in Columbus, Ohio. Charlie has worked in insurance since 1979.

Professional Education
Delayed Diagnosis of Stroke: Case Review for Advanced Practice Clinicians
In reviewing closed malpractice claims, The Doctors Company identified diagnostic failure as a reoccurring problem and one of the top three leading allegations that result in malpractice claims. This failure often leads to a delay in treatment and causes significant harm to patients. The following highlights the importance of recognizing the signs and symptoms of a stroke. Factors contributing to delay diagnosis and treatment included failure to recognize the window (“last known well time”) for tissue plasminogen activator-clot buster (tPA) failure to order a stat MRI and neurology consult, failed communication among providers regarding changes of recurring symptoms of ischemic stroke, failure to appreciate new signs and symptoms of a stroke, and poor or inconsistent documentation. The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has identified the top three causes of serious harm from diagnostic failure. Number one is ischemic stroke.

Professional Education
Alzheimer's 4: Addressing Patients' and Families' Needs through the Disease Stages of Dementia
This activity includes seven video lectures and is the fourth in a series of four courses that seek to educate clinicians on standardized screening, evaluation, and disease management of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. This fourth course covers life planning through disease stages, assessing and assisting caregivers, improving communications, utilizing community resources, and end of life decision-making. These sensitive conversations with patients. The course finishes with a focus on dementia resources, effective communication strategies, and understanding when it is time to make a referral to a specialist.