 Favorites |
 Google |
 Digg |
 Del.icio.us |
 Twitter |
 Facebook |
>> More...
Administrative Compensation of Medical Injuries
A Hardy Perennial Blooms Again
Published: August 2008
The rising cost of personal injury litigation and medical liability insurance has provoked calls over the years from insurers and health care providers for a reform of the tort system. The proposed reforms have primarily focused on limiting access to the courts and restricting amounts plaintiffs may be awarded in damages. This article considers the historical experience of administrative medical injury compensation proposals and examines why such initiatives have succeeded for certain injuries, such as neurological damage to newborns, as well as occupational, automobile, and vaccine-related injuries, yet failed for medical ones.
The authors describe how certain conditions need to be in place for system changes to be adopted. They suggest that compensation initiatives failed in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s because the stakeholders had differing perceptions of the existing liability scheme and different visions for its future. For instance, health care providers and attorneys disagreed on the flaws inherent in the existing system. The authors discuss the more recent reform proposals in this field, in particular in light of the recent emphasis in health care reform on patient safety. In addition, the article highlights how the trial bar’s opposition to reform continues to be a barrier to change.
Share:
Recommended
- Common Good and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to Expand Initiative to Promote Health Courts (News releases)
- "Health Courts" and Accountability for Patient Safety (Journal articles)
- Health Courts, Administrative Compensation and Patient Safety: Research, Policy and Practice (Video)
- Health Courts: An Alternative for Resolving Medical Liability Claims: Research Highlight (Research highlights)
- Michelle Mello Podcast on Health Courts (Audio podcasts)
- Health Courts: An Alternative for Resolving Medical Liability Claims (Stories and articles)
- Show more
Listed below is one grant that supported this project.
| Grant | Awarded to | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Designing a reliable system of medical justice |
Common Good Institute Inc. (New York, NY) ID#: 58662 http://www.commongood.org |
Approved award: $994,560 Actual award: $976,172 February 2007 to September 2009 This grant has ended. |
RWJF may have supported this project with other grants that are not listed.
Common Good and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to Expand Initiative to Promote Health Courts
Publication date:
Feb 20, 2007
Summary:
Common Good, the national nonpartisan legal reform coalition, has been awarded a two-year grant of nearly $1 million from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to promote the creation of special health courts to handle medical injury disputes in six states. The...
"Health Courts" and Accountability for Patient Safety
By:
Mello MM, Studdert DM, Kachalia AB and Brennan TA
Publication date:
September 2006
Summary:
The authors compare various designs for health court systems and endorse a smaller scale demonstration project.
Health Courts, Administrative Compensation and Patient Safety: Research, Policy and Practice
Publication date:
November 01, 2007
Summary:
The fourth in a series of national forums sponsored by RWJF discussed patient-safety focused alternatives to the current medical liability system and received feedback from key stakeholders.
Health Courts: An Alternative for Resolving Medical Liability Claims: Research Highlight
By:
Necochea L
Publication date:
Oct 30, 2006
Summary:
The shortcomings of the medical tort system are widely acknowledged and have prompted substantial interest in medical liability reform. This Research Highlight covers an article describing a model for an alternative administrative compensation system featuring...
Michelle Mello Podcast on Health Courts
By:
Mello M
Publication date:
August 24, 2007
Summary:
In this podcast, Michelle Mello of the Harvard School of Public Health discusses health courts as an alternative to the current tort system for medical malpractice issues.
Health Courts: An Alternative for Resolving Medical Liability Claims
Publication date:
September 21, 2006
Summary:
New RWJF-funded research describes a model for an alternative administrative compensation system and explains its advantages over the tort system
Health Courts Offer a New Approach
Publication date:
December 29, 2006
Summary:
The many drawbacks of the medical tort system are stimulating interest in health courts as a more efficient and cost-effective alternative to the current medical malpractice claims system
Administrative Compensation of Medical Injuries: A Hardy Perennial Blooms Again
By:
Colby DC
Publication date:
January 8, 2009
Summary:
This article compares the history of administrative medical injury compensation proposals to other reparation systems, and explores why health courts have not been successful to date.
The Pioneer Portfolio has launched Pioneering Ideas, a blog for RWJF staff, grantees and other innovators to share breakthrough ideas for health and health care. Here are several recent entries:
- Join Pioneer at TED 2010-Healt's Future, Powered by You and Your Data
- Grantee Interview Series: Diane Flannery, UCLA Family Commons
- What Does Your Health Care Have to Do With Your Mouthwash?
- Games for Health NYC Regional Meetup - Agenda
- The Power and Potential of Personal Health Records - A New Web Feature
- The Value of Failure