New research indicates that the bulk of medical malpractice lawsuits target a small minority of the nation’s doctors.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, examined data on malpractice claims over the past decade. It focused specifically on claims that were found to have merit, and which led to a payment, either from a settlement or a judgment.

From 2005 to 2014, there were 66,426 successful malpractice claims made against 54,099 doctors. If you’re paying attention, that means that some doctors were the target of multiple successful claims.

In fact, researchers found that 1 percent of doctors accounted for 32 percent of all successful claims. Experts point to such figures as evidence that past malpractice claims are the best predictor of future ones.

“Over a recent 10-year period, a small number of physicians with distinctive characteristics accounted for a disproportionately large number of paid malpractice claims,” wrote the study authors, led by Professor David Studdert of Stanford University.

Of the doctors who paid a claim during the time period examined, 84 percent only paid one. But 16 percent paid at least two and 4 percent paid at least three claims.

The study also confirmed widely-held perceptions that some medical fields are more susceptible to malpractice claims. Neurosurgeons are particularly likely to incur successful claims –– four times as likely as psychiatrists. OBGYNs and surgeons were twice as likely to pay claims as general practitioners.

The median successful claim was $205,000.

The study authors hope that their research will lead to identifying doctors most likely to prompt lawsuits and train them in a way to avoid them.

“If claim-prone physicians account for a substantial share of all claims, the ability to reliably identify them at an early stage could guide efforts to improve care,” they wrote.

"To strengthen prediction, there are important factors that future analyses will hopefully consider such as patient volume, complexity of services provided, experience, and specifics on medical school, residency, and fellowship training,” Dr. Anupam Jena, associate professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, told Reuters.

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Tiny group of doctors responsible for most malpractice suits

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