What is medical malpractice?
Medical malpractice is ordinary negligence by a physician that
causes injury to a patient. Examples include being improperly diagnosed, treated,
medicated or operated upon outside the standard of care.
The three possible types of malpractice history are:
Settlement - a payment on a medical malpractice action or claim settled out of court. It is not a presumption that malpractice has occurred.
Arbitration Award - a payment on a medical malpractice action or claim typically based on a decision by a third-party arbiter. It is not a presumption that malpractice has occurred.
Judgment - a court order for a physician, or his or her employer, to pay a party a certain amount of money. It is a conclusion that a civil wrong has occurred.
If my physician has malpractice history, is he/she a poor quality physician?
If your physician has a malpractice claim, evaluate the information and determine if the action could potentially impact the quality of care you receive. Claim settlements and arbitration awards may occur for a variety of reasons, which should not necessarily reflect negatively on the physician's professional competence or conduct. You may want to use this information to start a discussion with the physician.
How far back does DoctorHelps malpractice history go?
DoctorHelps reports details of a physician malpractice history when the physician has at least one closed malpractice claim within the last five years, even if he or she no longer practices in that state. If your physician has malpractice claims in multiple states, evaluate the information for similarities. It is possible for multiple states to report the same claim.
For which states does DoctorHelps collect malpractice history?
DoctorHelps collects malpractice and lawsuit information for the states of California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.