Healthcare providers continue to experience relatively flatmalpractice costs, according to a new report released today by AonRisk Solutions in conjunction with the American Society ofHealthcare Risk Management.

“Although overall cost levels appear to be calm, theseseemingly still waters hide a system of swirling undercurrents,”said Erik Johnson, leader of the health care practice group withAon’s Actuarial & Analytics Practice.

“Proactive organizations are using data, analytics and businessintelligence to reduce costs and strengthen risk management in thisstable environment. Our report helps these organizations toidentify underlying problem areas, even when the overall picturelooks good.”

The 2014 Aon/ASHRM Hospital and Physician Professional LiabilityBenchmark report examines medical malpractice trends from severalvantage points, exploring the link between quality of care andmedical malpractice claim frequency. This analysis is new to thisyear’s study, and facilities scoring highly in the survey tended tohave lower frequencies of medical malpractice claims, indicatingthat risk managers can use survey scores as a “marker” fordetecting and remediating areas in need of improvement.

The report also includes a survey of claim frequency andseverity by cause of loss. Using text-mining techniques to measurethe frequency and severity, or average cost, of claims by the causeof loss, the report examines a new level of specificity to riskmanagers’ ability to identify potentially costly risks.

At the same time, the benchmark provides an assessment of claimfrequency and severity benchmarks by state, including statisticalinformation specific to 27 states and the District of Columbia.When it comes to individual states, the survey reveals that Floridahas the highest projected loss rates for 2015, at nearly $8,000.Conversely Indiana and Minnesota have the lowest projected lossrates for 2015, at $800 and $770, respectively.

For California, the report includes a special section reportinghighlights of the analysis, as well as the impact of Proposition 6,a proposed change to the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act’snon-economic damage caps. According to the report, the passage ofProposition 46 would result in an increase in medical malpracticecosts of 15 to 35%.

The report draws several noteworthy, evidence-based conclusionsconcerning the current state of hospital professional liability, aswell as projecting the future outlook. Projected loss rate forhospital professional liability, for example, is $2,870 peroccupied bed equivalent (OBE) for events occurring in 2015, and thefrequency of claims is projected to be around 1.69% per OBE movinginto next year. The severity of claims is projected to be around$170,000 per claim.

“Health care providers are adapting to transformations inthe way services are paid for and delivered. The benchmarkinformation in this report can serve as a diagnostic tool toidentify areas where clinical integration and risk management canbe used to narrow practice pattern variations and improve results,”said Ron Calhoun, health care practice leader for Aon RiskSolutions.

To purchase a copy of the 2014 Aon/ASHRM Hospital ProfessionalLiability and Physician Liability Benchmark report, visit ASHRM onlinestore.