Misplaced Words, Misplaced Care: Communication Failures Causing $1.7 B in Malpractice Costs
In healthcare, we expect that when mistakes happen, they’ll be rooted in clinical complexity—rare diagnoses, subtle symptoms, or treatment resistance.
But the data says otherwise.
According to the Joint Commission and HIPAA Journal, poor communication is a driving factor in nearly 80% of all serious medical errors. And the consequences aren’t theoretical. Over a five-year period, breakdowns in communication contributed to nearly 2,000 preventable patient deaths and led to $1.7 billion in malpractice payouts.
This isn’t a system flaw. This is the system flaw.
When Communication Breaks, Patients Pay
Medical handoffs are one of the most common and most dangerous parts of modern care delivery. A typical hospital patient may interact with:
10+ different nurses
4–5 physicians
Multiple techs, pharmacists, and specialists
All in a matter of days.
Each shift change, discharge, consult, or transfer becomes a point of potential failure. And without standardized tools, consistent protocols, or accountability for follow-through, key information gets lost in the noise.
The most common breakdowns include:
Incomplete medication lists
Unclear treatment plans
Lack of status updates to patients or families
Diagnostic findings not conveyed or acted upon
Language or cultural barriers without interpretation
Each of these may seem small on its own. But in aggregate, they create confusion, duplicate testing, delayed treatments, and sometimes irreversible harm.
The High Cost of Human Error
From a financial standpoint, malpractice claims tied to communication errors are among the most expensive. On average, they cost more than other types of claims—and they’re more likely to involve death or permanent disability.
But the real cost isn’t just financial. It’s reputational. It’s operational. It’s the slow erosion of trust between clinicians and patients, between systems and the people they’re supposed to serve.
Solutions Exist—But They're Underused
The Joint Commission and others have recommended strategies for years:
Standardized handoff tools, like SBAR or I-PASS
Closed-loop communication, especially for critical lab results or verbal orders
Real-time team huddles during transitions of care
Clear patient-facing summaries of diagnosis and next steps
Digital platforms that unify clinical messaging
And yet, adoption remains inconsistent across most hospitals and health systems. Why? Because communication isn’t seen as core infrastructure—it’s seen as bedside manner.
That mindset needs to change.
Final Thought
If poor communication were a disease, we’d declare a national emergency. But because it’s human, unglamorous, and hard to quantify, it gets pushed aside.
The $1.7 billion in malpractice payouts and 2,000 preventable deaths are reminders that words matter. Silence matters. Handoffs matter. Healthcare doesn’t just need better care—it needs better conversations.
