Abstract
When adverse events occur in the hospital the patients or their relatives often bring cases to court or
submit claims for compensation from the National Health Security Office (NHSO). A descriptive study
was carried out to determine the trend relating to claims for compensation in order to obtain information
for designing a new and better system.A survey employing questionnaires was used to obtain information at 230 hospitals in the country;
the response rate was 70 percent, among which 21 percent had experienced in 2008 claims for compensation
owing to adverse events occurring in the hospitals. The findings showed that community hospitals
were subjected to such claims more often than regional general hospitals, e.g., 23.4 vs. 15.7 percent. As
many as 43.1 percent of the studied cases were related to pregnancy and delivery. The median of the
compensation amounts was Baht 200,000; the highest claim was for Baht 15 million. The median amount
of money allowed was Baht 100,000. The main source of compensation was from NHSO (49.0%). Among
the claims, 13.3 percent of the cases were brought to court. Community hospitals had a higher chance for
claims brought to court than general/regional hospitals (14.3% vs. 10.0%).
The study concluded that 21 percent of the hospitals surveyed experienced claims for compensation.
Most cases were related to pregnancy and delivery. The money received was smaller than the claims
submitted. Therefore, some claimants brought their cases to court in lawsuits.
