JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Malpractice claims data as a quality improvement tool. I. Epidemiology of error in four specialties.
--To identify potentially preventable sources of medical injury in obstetrics and gynecology, general surgery, anesthesiology, and radiology. ⋯ --Malpractice data can be used to identify problem-prone clinical processes and suggest interventions that may reduce negligence.
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--To evaluate the usefulness of malpractice claims data for identifying (1) physicians who are prone to negligent errors and (2) physician and hospital characteristics associated with particular kinds of errors. ⋯ --Use of physicians' malpractice claims histories to target individuals for education or sanctions is problematic because of the only modest predictive power of such claims histories.