Seventeen-Year Medical Professional Liability Experience in a Level III University Hospital

In recent decades, the number of medical professional liability disputes has grown exponentially, becoming a well-studied aspect of public healthcare. Legal medicine is an essential tool in managing this phenomenon.

This article reports the results of the analysis of disputes for medical professional liability in a Level III University Hospital in Italy. The study covers the time period from 01.01.2003 to 31.12.2019.

About 33% of claims have been compensated. Those claims fall within the following categories: 37% in the surgical field, 17% in the field of internal medicine, and 35% in the emergency care field. As for the types of a medical mistake, compensation was awarded in 30% of diagnostic error cases, 26% of therapeutic error cases, 47% of execution error cases, and 55% of organizational deficiency cases.

The difference in the rate of compensation between the various medical fields or types of error depends on specific medico-legal characteristics. The aim of advanced healthcare systems is to prevent medical liability disputes by analyzing this phenomenon and improving clinical risk management programs. In particular, according to our study, events related to organizational deficiencies are the most preventable. In addition, through the use of a dedicated reporting procedure, medico-legal analysis of malpractice cases may be the key to risk reduction.

Every major hospital should set up a medico-legal watchdog responsible for collecting and analyzing information on professional medical liability disputes in order to prevent and manage such events.