Little is known about the effects of malpractice claims in the practice of dentistry, a growing problem in all health professions. Past studies have focused on medical malpractice and have relied on prevalence data (often unvalidated) and, almost always, on aggregate measures. A cross sectional design will be employed to estimate the prevalence of filed as well as of paid claims, to investigate the prevalent severity distribution of paid claims and to ascertain the relative contribution of the legal environment, claims experience and insurance and the dental market to an explanatory model of dentist behavior. A sample of 3875 general practice dentists, stratified by state, will be randomly drawn from the American Dental Association (ADA) Directory and surveyed. Information on claims experience and severity will be self-reported by the dentists and will be cross-validated by insurance company records on a sub-group. The survey will also inquire about the dentist's insurance coverage, practice form, practice treatment mix, care process, prices and practice beliefs. State specific data on malpractice laws will be collected from public records. Data on coverage limits, types of policies and procedures will be obtained from insurance carriers. This study will help estimate the nation-wide magnitude of the malpractice problem in dentistry. It will be the first investigation to focus on dentist behavior.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HS006554-02
Application #
3372248
Study Section
Health Systems Research (HSR)
Project Start
1991-07-01
Project End
1994-06-30
Budget Start
1992-07-01
Budget End
1993-06-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
1992
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Washington
Department
Type
Schools of Dentistry
DUNS #
135646524
City
Seattle
State
WA
Country
United States
Zip Code
98195
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O'Hara, D J; Conrad, D A; Milgrom, P et al. (1994) Dental malpractice liability insurance market: surveys of insurers and insurance commissioners. J Am Dent Assoc 125:1385-90
Milgrom, P; Fiset, L; Getz, T et al. (1993) Dental malpractice experience: a closed claim study. Med Care 31:749-56