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Coverys says diagnostic errors drive most inpatient indemnity losses
Coverys analyzed 403 closed inpatient diagnostic error events from 2021 to 2025 and found 55% involved patient deaths.
Coverys, the Massachusetts-based medical professional liability insurer, said most inpatient diagnostic error claims originate in general medical-surgical units rather than intensive care, with monitoring gaps on those wards contributing to severe outcomes, according to its closed-claims analysis.
The insurer reviewed 403 closed inpatient diagnostic error events from 2021 to 2025. It found general medical-surgical units accounted for 68% of the inpatient events, versus 16% in critical care. Coverys also reported that across its broader dataset of 6,302 closed claims, diagnostic-related events represented 28% of claims but 43% of total indemnity paid across care settings.
Coverys said diagnostic-related inpatient events involved serious harm, with 55% of events resulting in a patient's death and an additional 19% causing high-severity, permanent injury. It also reported that more than three-quarters of such cases involved patients with underlying comorbidities, and that more than 90% included factors tied to clinical decision-making, including diagnostic differentials affected by testing issues.
The findings come as part of Coverys' series examining drivers of diagnostic error, and the third installment focuses specifically on diagnostic error during hospital stays.