The medical tort system does not deter medical errors, compensates a small percentage of patients affected by negligent care, and is driving shortages in specialty care through rapidly rising insurance rates. New approaches, including an administrative system of health courts may address these issues and improve patient safety.
Medical Malpractice
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Disclosure-And-Resolution Programs That Include Generous Compensation Offers May Prompt A Complex Patient Response
December 1, 2012 | Journal Article
Under “disclosure-and-resolution” programs, health systems disclose adverse events to affected patients and their families; apologize; and, where appropriate, offer compensation.
New Directions in Medical Liability Reform
April 21, 2011 | Journal Article
New models of response to medical injuries which focus on improving delivery of safe and efficient patient care hold promise.
National Costs of the Medical Liability System
September 1, 2010 | Journal Article
Concerns about reducing the rate of growth of health expenditures have reignited interest in medical liability reforms and their potential to save money by reducing the practice of defensive medicine. This article identifies the various components of liability system costs, generates national estimates for each component, and discusses the level of evidence available to support the estimates.
Physicians' Fears of Malpractice Lawsuits are not Assuaged by Tort Reforms
September 1, 2010 | Journal Article
Physicians contend that the threat of malpractice lawsuits forces them to practice defensive medicine, which in turn raises the cost of health care.
The Flaws in State 'Apology' and 'Disclosure' Laws Dilute Their Intended Impact on Malpractice Suits
September 1, 2010 | Journal Article
Apologies are rare in the medical world, where health care providers fear that admissions of guilt or expressions of regret could be used by plaintiffs in malpractice lawsuits.
Malpractice Reform ¿ Opportunities for Leadership by Health Care Institutions and Liability Insurers
April 15, 2010 | Journal Article
The authors examine three "disclosure and offer" models which may balance the interests of providers and patients better than the existing malpractice system.
Medical Malpractice Myths Clarified at Meharry Session
June 28, 2011 | Story
Reforming medical malpractice rules in ways that will improve care means debunking misconceptions about costs and cases.
New Studies by RWJF Scholars Focus on Malpractice, Tort Reform, Error Disclosure Laws
September 15, 2010 | Story
Research published in a special issue of "Health Affairs" journal--and featured at a National Press Club event--estimates liability costs at 2.4 percent of overall health care total.
Facilitating and Impeding Factors for Physicians' Error Disclosure
April 1, 2006 | Journal Article
The authors performed a structured literature review to enhance understanding of factors that both impede and enhance disclosure of medical errors. They performed a MEDLINE search of related articles published between 1975 and 2004, which yielded 5, ...
Understanding Diagnostic Errors in Medicine
June 1, 2006 | Journal Article
The authors present a real-life case in which a patient's spinal cord compression was delayed to illustrate how "situational awareness" (SA) can be used to understand diagnostic errors in medicine. SA is defined as "a person's perception of the elem ...