Statistics on patient outcomes are rarely even tracked at hospitals. Even the administrators don't know which surgeons have the most complications, and the bad doctors are at least an order of magnitude worse than the good ones according to some studies which have attempted to track outcomes.

That's just not true. You will have a hard time keeping and finding a job if you can't adequately explain any open malpractice suits.

Many patients have adverse outcomes which do not result in malpractice suits; one example of a surgical issue that should be tracked is artificial joint replacement surgery. There are many people who are put under the knife multiple times due to surgical errors.

But the risk of being held monetarily liable for damages might mean people stop doing work they shouldn't before damage is done.

Of course, this relies on people correctly assessing their likelihood of making a mistake.