IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/jlstud/v36y2007is2ps79-s119.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Malpractice Risk on the Use of Obstetrics Procedures

Author

Listed:
  • Beomsoo Kim

Abstract

Recent malpractice premium hikes and federal tort reform proposals have focused attention on medical liability costs. One frequent justification for tort reform proposals is the potential impact of liability on defensive medicine. There is, however, scant and conflicting evidence on whether malpractice risk alters physician practices. In this paper, I examine whether malpractice risk alters the procedure choices of obstetricians, who face one of the highest rates of malpractice lawsuits among medical specialties. By focusing on obstetricians, I can observe the impact of malpractice risk on the use of procedures such as cesarean sections, prenatal care visits, diagnostic tests, and so on. Because the measured malpractice risk may signal something unobserved about physician quality or practice style, I use malpractice claims against doctors with specialties other than obstetrics and gynecology (ob-gyn) as an instrument for ob-gyn claims. I find that cesarean section rates and most other measures of physician behavior are not sensitive to medical malpractice risk. (c) 2007 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.

Suggested Citation

  • Beomsoo Kim, 2007. "The Impact of Malpractice Risk on the Use of Obstetrics Procedures," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S2), pages 79-119, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlstud:v:36:y:2007:i:s2:p:s79-s119
    DOI: 10.1086/520069
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/520069
    File Function: link to full text
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/520069?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel P. Kessler & Mark McClellan, 1996. "Do Doctors Practice Defensive Medicine?," NBER Working Papers 5466, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Jayanta Bhattacharya, 2005. "Specialty Selection and Lifetime Returns to Specialization Within Medicine," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(1).
    3. Jeremiah E. Hurley, 1991. "Physicians' Choices of Specialty, Location, and Mode: A Reexamination within an Interdependent Decision Framework," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 26(1), pages 47-71.
    4. Bassett, Ken L. & Iyer, Nitya & Kazanjian, Arminee, 2000. "Defensive medicine during hospital obstetrical care: a by-product of the technological age," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 523-537, August.
    5. Katherine Baicker & Amitabh Chandra, 2005. "The Effect of Malpractice Liability on the Delivery of Health Care," NBER Chapters, in: Frontiers in Health Policy Research, Volume 8, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Daniel Kessler & Mark McClellan, 1996. "Do Doctors Practice Defensive Medicine?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 111(2), pages 353-390.
    7. Dubay, Lisa & Kaestner, Robert & Waidmann, Timothy, 1999. "The impact of malpractice fears on cesarean section rates," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 491-522, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Andrew Friedson & Thomas Kniesner, 2012. "Losers and losers: Some demographics of medical malpractice tort reforms," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 115-133, October.
    2. Xin Zhao & Xiaoxue Li & Benno Torgler & Uwe Dulleck, 2021. "Patient violence, physicians treatment decisions, and patient welfare: Evidence from China," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(6), pages 1461-1479, June.
    3. Janet Currie & W. Bentley MacLeod, 2008. "First Do No Harm? Tort Reform and Birth Outcomes," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(2), pages 795-830.
    4. Paola Bertoli & Veronica Grembi, 2018. "Medical Malpractice: How Legal Liability Affects Medical Decisions," Contributions to Economic Analysis, in: Health Econometrics, volume 127, pages 235-261, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    5. Sloan, Frank A. & Shadle, John H., 2009. "Is there empirical evidence for "Defensive Medicine"? A reassessment," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 481-491, March.
    6. Scott Barkowski, 2017. "Does Regulation of Physicians Reduce Health Care Spending?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 83(4), pages 1074-1097, April.
    7. Stoddard Christiana & Stock Wendy A. & Hogenson Elise, 2016. "The Impact of Maternity Leave Laws on Cesarean Delivery," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 16(1), pages 321-364, January.
    8. Erin M. Johnson & M. Marit Rehavi, 2016. "Physicians Treating Physicians: Information and Incentives in Childbirth," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 115-141, February.
    9. Ity Shurtz, 2014. "Malpractice Law, Physicians' Financial Incentives, and Medical Treatment: How Do They Interact?," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(1), pages 1-29.
    10. Toshiaki Iizuka, 2013. "Does Higher Malpractice Pressure Deter Medical Errors?," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(1), pages 161-188.
    11. Daniel P. Kessler, 2011. "Evaluating the Medical Malpractice System and Options for Reform," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 25(2), pages 93-110, Spring.
    12. Chopard, Bertrand & Musy, Olivier, 2023. "Market for artificial intelligence in health care and compensation for medical errors," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    13. Cotet-Grecu, Anca, 2015. "The impact of non-economic damages caps on obstetrics: Incentives versus practice style," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 29-41.
    14. Beomsoo Kim, 2010. "Do Doctors Induce Demand?," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(4), pages 554-575, October.
    15. Morita, Hatsuru, 2018. "Criminal prosecution and physician supply," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 1-11.
    16. Javier Cano-Urbina & Daniel Montanera, 2017. "Do tort reforms impact the incidence of birth by cesarean section? A reassessment," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 103-112, March.
    17. Annalisa Scognamiglio, 2019. "Cesarean sections: Use or abuse?," CSEF Working Papers 534, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ellyson, Alice M. & Robertson, Justin C., 2019. "Can malpractice pressure compel a physician to relocate?," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 37-48.
    2. Scott Barkowski, 2017. "Does Regulation of Physicians Reduce Health Care Spending?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 83(4), pages 1074-1097, April.
    3. Lakdawalla, Darius N. & Seabury, Seth A., 2012. "The welfare effects of medical malpractice liability," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 356-369.
    4. Anup Malani, 2007. "Introduction: Current Research on Medical Malpractice Liability," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S2), pages 1-8, June.
    5. Eric Helland & Mark H. Showalter, 2009. "The Impact of Liability on the Physician Labor Market," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(4), pages 635-663, November.
    6. Frakes, Michael & Jena, Anupam B., 2016. "Does medical malpractice law improve health care quality?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 142-158.
    7. Eberhard Feess, 2012. "Malpractice liability, technology choice and negative defensive medicine," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 13(2), pages 157-167, April.
    8. Arab Naz & Umar Daraz & Waseem Khan & Qaisar Khan & Tariq Khan & Anwar Alam & Irum Mughal, 2013. "Human’s Complexity and Man’s Atrocity: Causes Of Medical Malpractices among Pakhtuns of Pakistan," Asian Journal of Empirical Research, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 3(3), pages 286-297, March.
    9. Katherine Baicker & Amitabh Chandra, 2005. "The Consequences of the Growth of Health Insurance Premiums," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(2), pages 214-218, May.
    10. Janet Currie & W. Bentley MacLeod, 2008. "First Do No Harm? Tort Reform and Birth Outcomes," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(2), pages 795-830.
    11. Sebastian Panthöfer, 2022. "Do doctors prescribe antibiotics out of fear of malpractice?," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(2), pages 340-381, June.
    12. Katherine Baicker & Amitabh Chandra, 2005. "The Effect of Malpractice Liability on the Delivery of Health Care," NBER Chapters, in: Frontiers in Health Policy Research, Volume 8, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Angelo Antoci & Alessandro Fiori Maccioni & Paolo Russu, 2018. "Medical practice and malpractice litigation in an evolutionary context," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 915-928, September.
    14. Zabinski, Zenon & Black, Bernard S., 2022. "The deterrent effect of tort law: Evidence from medical malpractice reform," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    15. Malak, Natalie & Yang, Y. Tony, 2019. "A re-examination of the effects of tort reforms on obstetrical procedures and health outcomes," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    16. Jonathan Yoder, 2008. "Liability, Regulation, and Endogenous Risk: The Incidence and Severity of Escaped Prescribed Fires in the United States," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(2), pages 297-325, May.
    17. Andrew I. Friedson, 2017. "Medical Malpractice Damage Caps and Provider Reimbursement," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(1), pages 118-135, January.
    18. Dubay, Lisa & Kaestner, Robert & Waidmann, Timothy, 2001. "Medical malpractice liability and its effect on prenatal care utilization and infant health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 591-611, July.
    19. Paola Bertoli & Veronica Grembi, 2018. "Medical Malpractice: How Legal Liability Affects Medical Decisions," Contributions to Economic Analysis, in: Health Econometrics, volume 127, pages 235-261, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    20. Sofia Amaral-Garcia & Paola Bertoli & Veronica Grembi, 2015. "Does Experience Rating Improve Obstetric Practices? Evidence From Geographical Discontinuities in Italy," CEIS Research Paper 342, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 08 May 2015.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ucp:jlstud:v:36:y:2007:i:s2:p:s79-s119. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Journals Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JLS .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.