Severe and fatal obstetric injury claims in relation to labor unit volume.

OBJECTIVE: To assess possible association between the incidence of approved claims for severe and fatal obstetric injuries and delivery volume in Denmark. DESIGN AND SETTING: A nationwide panel study of labor units. POPULATION: Claimants seeking financial compensation due to injuries occurring in labor units in 1995-2012. METHODS: Exposure information regarding the annual number of deliveries per labor unit was retrieved from the Danish National Birth Register. Outcome information was retrieved from the Danish Patient Compensation Association. Exposure was categorized in delivery volume quintiles as annual volume per labor unit: (10-1377), (1378-2016), (2017-2801), (2802-3861), (3862-6659). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Five primary measures of outcome were used. Incidence rate ratios of (A) Submitted claims, (B) Approved claims, (C) Approved severe injury claims (120% degree of disability), (D) Approved fatal injury claims, and (C+D) Combined. RESULTS: 1 151 734 deliveries in 51 labor units and 1872 submitted claims were included. The incidence rate ratios of approved claims overall, of approved fatal injury claims, and of approved severe and fatal injuries combined increased significantly with decreasing annual delivery volume. Face value incidence rate ratios of approved severe injuries increased with decreasing labor unit volume, but the association did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSION: High volume labor units appear associated with fewer approved and fewer fatal injury claims compared with units with less volume. The findings support the development towards consolidation of units in Denmark. A suggested option would be to tailor obstetric patient safety initiatives according to the delivery volume of individual labor units.

The size of the labor wards: is bigger better when it comes to patient safety?

OBJECTIVE: To assess possible associations between the size of labor units and the frequency of approved obstetric claims. DESIGN: A nationwide retrospective descriptive study. SETTING: Denmark. POPULATION: All patients seeking financial compensation due to obstetric injuries occurring between 1995 and 2009. METHODS: In all, 1440 anonymized obstetrics claims were reviewed; 1326 were included in the study. Information regarding the annual number of deliveries for each place of injury was retrieved from the National Birth Registry. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Obstetric injuries approved by the Danish Patient Insurance Association categorized by labor unit size. RESULTS: The overall approval rate for submitted claims was 39.7%. Large labor units (3000-3999 deliveries/year) were found to have a lower approval rate (34.2%), compared with very large (≥4000 deliveries/year, 38.6%), intermediate (1000-2999 deliveries/year, 41.7%), and small (<1000 deliveries/year, 50.0%) units, (p < 0.05). The majority of compensation claims were approved with reference to the "specialist rule," assuming that if an experienced specialist had conducted the treatment differently the injury could have been avoided. Claims from small units showed a trend for being more often based on the specialist rule than seen in larger units (p < 0.05, test for trend). CONCLUSION: The results may reflect that large labor units are living up to the principle of best practice to a greater degree. Several factors can be linked to the size of the labor unit and a better availability of in-house obstetricians as well as auxiliary specialists could be part of the explanation.