The multiplier method: scaling off your damages
The multiplier method is the industry's default approach. It takes your economic damages — medical bills and lost wages — and multiplies that total by a factor generally between 1.5 and 5, chosen based on injury severity, recovery time, and whether any permanent impairment is involved.
The per diem method: valuing each day
The per diem (Latin for "per day") method works differently. It assigns a specific dollar value to a single day of pain and suffering and multiplies that rate by the total number of days of documented recovery, tying the value directly to time rather than to the size of your medical bills.
Why the filing date matters more than usual here
Montana's medical malpractice cap under MCA § 25-9-411 isn't a fixed number — it's on a legislated schedule that rises every year or two through 2029, then continues increasing 2% annually. The applicable limit is locked in based on the date the claim was first filed, with the Montana medical legal panel or in court, not the date of the injury or the eventual settlement. That means two otherwise-identical injuries can face different caps simply because of when the paperwork was filed — a detail that affects the final number more than any reasonable difference between the multiplier and per diem methods.
So confirming the filing date matters more than the method
Before investing effort in choosing between the multiplier and per diem methods for a Montana malpractice claim, it's worth confirming exactly when the claim was or will be filed, since that date determines which tier of the rising cap schedule actually applies.
Neither is required by Montana law
Both methods remain negotiating tools, not a formula Montana courts are required to apply. A jury retains discretion to award whatever amount it finds appropriate for noneconomic damages — subject to whichever cap, if any, genuinely applies, and without ever being told the cap exists.