DSP Highlights provide an overview of MPL closed claims information and offer key data and trends on a wide variety of medical specialties, risk factors, and legal outcomes.
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Severity of Injury in MPL Claims
The MPL Association examines closed claims from 2014 to 2023 using injury severity classifications. While mild and moderate injuries account for 55.3% of total closed claim counts, higher severity injuries are associated with higher indemnity payments.
MPL Claims by Surgical Specialties
The MPL Association examines closed claim data on surgical specialties from the Data Sharing Project. Among the findings, surgical specialties represent 43% of all closed claims and nearly half (48%) of all paid claims.
MPL Claims by Place of Care Rendered
The MPL Association Data Sharing Project looks at claims data focusing on the facility where the medial liability event occurred. While hospitals and inpatient facilities had the highest number of closed and paid claims, emergency and acute care settings showed the highest paid-to-closed ratio.
MPL Claims—Other Professionals
This DSP Highlight examines claims data for “other professionals”—a sector that includes a wide range of non-physician medical professionals. The data shows that in the first six months of 2024, the financial performance of this sector experienced a 7.9% increase in direct premiums written.
Impact of Caps on MPL Claims
The most recent DSP Highlight spotlights the impact of noneconomic damage caps on MPL claims. The MPL Association found that lower caps effectively control claim costs, while higher caps often have a smaller/lesser impact.
2018-2022 Cardiovascular Diseases
A review of the MPL Association’s Data Sharing Project closed claims database shows that approximately 12% of the 29,153 claims and lawsuits closed between 2018 and 2022 involved cardiovascular disease as the resulting medical condition.
2013-2022 Indemnity Payments by Resolution Type
The MPL Association Data Sharing Project looks at MPL claims that were closed with or without an indemnity payment and the average indemnity paid through early offers, settlements, arbitration, and verdicts for the plaintiff based on the nature of the specialty, allegation, severity of injury, outcome, and patient age.
Data Highlight: Healthcare Specialties
The MPL Association Data Sharing Project provides a closer look at healthcare specialties by average indemnity, percentage of claims closed with payment, and average defense costs.