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Government Relations

Politics Are Key Factor in Policy Progress

As we approach the culmination of the biannual event known as “the most important election of our lifetime,” it is an opportune moment to assess what this election has in store with regard to the medical professional liability community.

Webinar

Mega Verdicts: Managing Jurors' Changing Attitudes

Members and partners are invited to join our April 2 webinar (2:00 p.m. ET): Verdicts that vastly exceed the case’s evidence or assessed value have spiked. Appellate law expert Derek Stikeleather provides some fascinating insights into these phenomena and offers advice on how defense counsel can better protect their healthcare clients.

News

MPL Association Announces Cooperative Agreement with APCIA

The MPL Association is pleased to announce a new cooperative agreement between the Association and the American Property Casualty Insurance Association to enhance both entities’ government relations efforts. Read more!

2018-2023
MPL CLAIMS – OTHER PROFESSIONALS

The other professionals sector includes a wide range of non-physician medical professionals like chiropractors, dentists, pharmacists, and podiatrists to advanced practice clinicians and allied health professionals. In the first six months of 2024, the financial performance of this sector experienced a 7.9% increase in direct premiums written (DPW), up from a 5.7% growth during the same period in 2023. As of June 30, 2024, this sector now represents 17% of the DPW for the MPL industry.

This highlight examines data for these professionals using information from the MPL Association Data Sharing Project (DSP), National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), and US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

 

The NPDB categorizes non-physicians into 16 distinct groups. Overall, there were 17,657 claims closed with indemnity payment (CWIP), resulting in more than $4 billion in payouts—an average of $228,720 per claim. For simplicity, only the top seven groups by CWIP count are highlighted, while those with fewer than 300 claims between 2018 and 2023 were moved to NPDB’s “other” category. Of note, no specialty reported a total between 300 and 850 claims—with 855 being the lowest count among the top seven. The “other” category now includes dental hygienists and assistants, nurses (practical and para-professional), optometrists, pharmacists, psychologists, social workers, technicians/assistants, as well as the original other group.

More than 90% of all CWIPs fell within the top seven specialties. Interestingly, several specialties that were moved to the “other” category recorded the highest growth in CWIP counts, specifically para-professional nurses (up 133%), psychologists (up 110%), and social workers (up 60%). Among the top seven groups, only advanced practice nurses (up 36%) and physician assistants (up 25%) experienced increases, while registered nurses saw a 24% decline, and both dentists and podiatrists fell by 15%.

Table 1. NPDB Average Indemnity Payments (2018-2023)


The NPDB also tracks indemnity payments. Much like the CWIP count, the specialties in the “other” category experienced the highest growth in average indemnity payments, especially technicians/assistants (up 140%), social workers (up 94%), and optometrists (up 75%). All of the top seven specialties saw an increase in average indemnity payments except physician assistants, which declined by 6%.

Table 2. DSP MPL Payment Summary (2018-2023)


A review of the DSP database for other professionals revealed 1,937 closed claims, with 565 resulting in an indemnity payment, and an average defense cost of $32,856 per claim. Approximately 29% of closed claims resulted in a payment to the plaintiff, with an average indemnity payment of $223,088. Although both the NPDB and DSP capture claims data, their specialty categorizations differ slightly.

 

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics 2024 Occupational Outlook Handbook, over the period 2023 to 2033, healthcare occupations are expected to grow at a greater rate than the average 4% rate projected for all occupations. Figure 2 shows the breakdown of the projected numeric and percent changes in employment for the specialties mentioned above. Additionally, several occupations not shown in the graph below are projected to grow by at least 15%: genetic counselors (16%), health information technologists and medical registrars (16%), home health and personal care aides (21%), massage therapists (18%), medical assistants (15%), occupational therapy assistants and aides (21%), orthotists and prosthetists (15%), physical therapists assistants and aides (19%), and speech-language pathologists (18%). A complete list of occupations can be found here.

 

Contact for more information:
Kwon Miller, Research and Analytics Manager kmiller@MPLassociation.org