Boston, MA—November 17, 2025 — After a decade of technological advances and growing attention to better communication in health care, a familiar problem persists: communication breakdowns remain a leading cause of patient harm and malpractice claims, according to Candello, CRICO’s national medial malpractice data collaborative, in its newly released 2025 Benchmarking Report: Malpractice Risks from Communication Failures.
Drawing on Candello’s national database, which represents one-third of all open and closed U.S. medical professional liability (MPL) claims, the report analyzed tens of thousands asserted and closed MPL cases from 2014–2024.
As a ten-year follow-up to Candello’s 2015 Benchmarking Report, which found that communication failures contributed to roughly 30 percent of malpractice cases from 2009–2013, today’s data show that such breakdowns now factor into 40 percent of asserted cases, signaling an entrenched challenge despite advances in digital communication tools and care coordination systems. Furthermore, the malpractice data reveal that while provider-to-provider communication has improved slightly, communication breakdowns between providers and patients or families are becoming more frequent.
“Our data show that provider-to-patient communication breakdowns have grown and not diminished over the past decade, despite new technologies designed to connect patients and providers,” says Mark Reynolds, CEO of CRICO. “In our 2015 report, these breakdowns appeared in 58 percent of communication-related malpractice cases; today, they’re found in 63 percent. These findings make clear that genuine communication with patients remains one of health care’s most persistent and growing challenges.”
Key Insights from the Report
- Persistent risk: 40% of asserted MPL cases from 2014–2024 involved communication-related factors.
- Changing patterns: Provider-to-patient communication failures are rising—now seen in 63% of communication-related cases, up from 58% in 2015, while provider-to-provider failures have declined slightly (47% to 45%).
- Higher payment likelihood: Communication-related cases had 39% greater odds of closing with indemnity payment.
- Technology impact: New communication tools, including virtual visits, are introducing fresh risk patterns.
- Outpatient shift: Breakdowns are more common in ambulatory settings (52%) than inpatient environments (41%).
The report emphasizes that transparent and empathetic communication following an adverse event remains one of the most effective ways to maintain trust and reduce the likelihood of litigation. Likewise, setting clear expectations about treatment and follow-up can help prevent miscommunication and improve patient outcomes.
“Thankfully, the number of medical malpractice cases is far fewer than the number of adverse events in health care,” says Michael Paskavitz, Vice President of Candello. “Nonetheless, even a small movement in the frequency or severity of malpractice cases, such as this report reveals, can result in billions of dollars that are not being spent on patient care. Acting on some of the findings from this report, such as the inverse trends in patient-to-provider versus provider-to-provider communications failures, can lead to real reductions in patient harm and financial loss.”
About the Report
Candello’s 2025 Benchmarking Report: Malpractice Risks from Communication Failures provides a decade-long view of malpractice trends associated with communication breakdowns across care settings. It identifies high-risk domains, examines the effects of technology-enabled care, and offers actionable insights for health care leaders seeking to reduce harm and liability exposure.
The full report is available on the Candello Reports page.
About Candello
Candello is a division of CRICO, which insures all of the Harvard medical institutions and their affiliates. Through national partnerships, Candello pools malpractice data and expertise from captive and commercial professional liability insurers across the country to provide clinical risk intelligence products and solutions. The data represent one-third of U.S. MPL cases and include open and closed cases as well as cases with and without indemnity payments. An active online community facilitates peer discussion and fosters shared learning, while web-based tools employ Candello’s clinical coding taxonomy to connect the dots from medical error to patient safety interventions. Learn more about Candello.
About CRICO
For close to 50 years, CRICO has established itself as a leader in medical professional liability insurance. The CRICO insurance program includes all of the Harvard medical institutions and their affiliates. It is our mission to protect providers and promote safety. Learn more about CRICO.