Malpractice claims against hospitals pick up

The Wall Street Journal Blog: "The pace of malpractice claims against hospitals is picking up, according to a recent report from Aon Risk Solutions and the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management. Earlier in the decade, growth in the frequency of claims declined for several years in a row, down to a 1.81 percent increase for incidents occurring in 2006. The pace has now ticked up for the past three years, to 1.95 percent for incidents occurring last year, the report says. It estimates the cost of the 44,000-odd claims arising from incidents occurring last year will top $8.6 billion (that covers hospitals only, not physicians or long-term care facilities.) Obstetrics-related claims alone will run an estimated $1.4 billion" (Hobson, 10/14).