Stress and Medical Malpractice: Organizational Risk Assessment and Intervention

Published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, the following article provides findings and conclusions from four studies that were conducted to examine both the relation between stress and medical malpractice and the impact of stress management programs in reducing malpractice risk. Sixty-seven hospitals and more than 12,000 individuals participated. Hospitals that implemented an organization-wide stress management program had significantly fewer claims as compared with a matched sample of hospitals that did not participate. Implications of these findings are discussed.