Physician malpractice: 8 stats to know 

Here are eight key statistics on physician malpractice, pulled from Medical Economics' "2022 Physician Report," WalletHub's "2022 Best & Worst States for Doctors" and Medscape's "2021 Physician Malpractice Report."

1. Fifty-one percent of physicians and 77 percent of surgeons have been named in a malpractice lawsuit. 

2. Physician practice owners' annual malpractice insurance premium is $3,000 less than non-owners. Practice owners' median annual premium was $9,400 in 2021, while non-owners' was $9,700.

3. Median annual malpractice premiums by years in practice:

10 or less: $7,000

11-20: $10,800

21-30: $11,200

31-40: $9,200

41 or more: $7,100

4. Percent of physicians named in malpractice suits by specialty:

Plastic surgery: 83 percent

General surgery: 83 percent

Orthopedics: 81 percent

Urology: 80 percent

OB-GYN: 79 percent

Specialized surgery: 74 percent

Emergency medicine: 70 percent

Otolaryngology: 68 percent

Radiology: 64 percent

Cardiology: 58 percent

5. 2021 annual premium amounts by geographic region

Northeast: $12,300 

South: $7,500

Midwest: $10,400

West: $8,200

6. How physicians said their malpractice premiums changed from 2020 to 2021:

Increased: 22 percent 

Stayed the same: 62 percent

Decreased: 3 percent

Don't know: 13 percent

7. The five states with the highest malpractice award payout per capita among physicians:

New York

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

West Virginia

New Jersey

8. The five states with the lowest malpractice award payout per capita among physicians:

Wisconsin

Texas

Tennessee

Michigan

Mississippi

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