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Malpractice suits are emotionally distressing and can cause isolation, humiliation, depression, and physical illness, making it essential for physicians, insurers, hospitals, and health systems to understand risk factors to provide high‑quality care while minimizing liability. The study seeks to identify factors that put physicians at risk of being sued. Entman et al examined the association between Florida obstetricians’ malpractice claims history and the quality of care they delivered to patients five to ten years later. The JAMA issue presents two articles that investigate how physicians’ malpractice claim histories relate to quality of medical care and interpersonal communication skills. See also pages 1583 and 1588.
What factors put physicians at risk for being sued? This is a vital question to practicing physicians since being named in a malpractice suit or, worse yet, going to court is an emotionally distressing event. A suit can lead to personal isolation, humiliation, depression, and even physical illness for physicians.<sup>1,2</sup>Understanding malpractice risk factors is also important to malpractice insurance companies, hospitals, and health care systems that seek to provide high-quality care while minimizing their liability and financial risk. See also pp 1583 and 1588. This issue of<i>JAMA</i>contains two articles that explore the relationship between physicians' malpractice claims history and two potential risk factors: quality of medical care and interpersonal communication skills. The study by Entman et al<sup>3</sup>examined the relationship between malpractice claims history of Florida obstetricians and the quality of the clinical care they provided to patients 5 to 10 years after the claims.