Nurse Practitioner Liability Report Reveals Malpractice Claim Costs Are on the Rise
By DailyNurse
A report from the Nurses Service Organization, a division of Aon Affinity, reveals that the average total incurred amount of nurse practitioner (NP) malpractice claims has surged more than 10.5% since 2017 to $332,137. Michael Loughran, president of Aon Affinity Healthcare, said, "Because NPs can diagnose, treat and prescribe to patients, they are more vulnerable to the threat of a malpractice suit." The report indicates that the average cost of defending complaints against NPs to the state Board of Nursing has jumped 19.5% since 2017 and 61.1% since 2012 to $7,155. Sixty-six percent of all claims involve family and adult-gerontology primary care, mainly related to diagnoses and medication prescribing failures. Most NP professional liability claims involve diagnosis allegations, with the most common injuries being death and cancer, accounting for over half of the claims. Allegations related to professional conduct and prescribing medication most often result in licensing board complaints.
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