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Medical Malpractice Payment to Non-Patients
A patient's mother, who has no legal authority over the patient, files a written claim against a health care practitioner, demanding payment based on the practitioner's services to the patient. A medical malpractice payer organization pays the patient's mother the amount the mother demands. Should the payment be reported to the NPDB as a medical malpractice payment?
Yes. NPDB's statutes and regulations do not limit the filing of medical malpractice reports based on the identity of the payee. As long as an entity makes a payment for the benefit of a health care practitioner in settlement of or in satisfaction, in whole or in part, of a written claim or judgment for medical malpractice made against the practitioner, the payment must be reported. Therefore, the payment to the mother should be reported to the NPDB if all the requirements of 45 CFR § 60.7 are met.
