Association of past and future paid medical malpractice claims.

Prior research has shown that physicians with more than three paid medical malpractice claims are at increased risk of another claim in the next two years. This study assessed the risk of additional claims after just one paid malpractice claim, whether public disclosure of claims increased the risk, and whether the risk changes over time. The authors also compare actual claims rates to simulated rates if malpractice claims were “random” events unrelated to prior claims.