Atkins Mediation Services

Harvard Medical, Dental, & Public Health Newsletter: Conflict Resolution In Health Care (2/01/10)
Holly Hayes Bovio
I recently read a healthcare conflict resolution article in FOCUS, the newsletter of the Harvard Medical, Dental, & Public Health Schools. The article begins with the statement, “Everyone in health care, it seems, has a war story about conflict at work.”

Mediation In Healthcare: Interview With Healthcare Neutral Richard Webb (1/25/10)
Holly Hayes Bovio
I recently conducted a Q & A via email with Richard J. Webb (pictured left) who writes the Healthcare Neutral Blog. Mr. Webb is a graduate of Yale University (B.A., cum laude, 1975) and the Duke University School of Law (J.D. 1978). His additional alternative dispute resolution training currently amounts to 177 hours of classroom time, including 60 hours of advanced mediation courses at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. He has received a peer review rating of AV from Martindale-Hubbell, and has been recognized as a New Jersey SuperLawyer in the field of healthcare law.

More On ‘Bad Faith’ Mediation In Texas (1/25/10)
Holly Hayes Bovio
In the Winter edition of the Texas Mediator, Susan Schultz calls for the “mediation community to engage in communal reflection” regarding the passage of the bad faith section of Texas HB 2256 which requires the mediator to report “bad faith mediation”. Overall, the bill provides a procedure for mediation of out-of-network health benefit claim disputes.

Texas Gives Patients Right to Mediate “Balance Billing” Claims (1/19/10)
Keith Seat

Texas has enacted legislation allowing patients in preferred-provider or state benefit plans to mediate whenever they would have to pay over $1,000 for services of out-of-network doctors received at in-network hospitals. The Texas Department of Insurance is drafting rules to implement the statute, which takes effect in September 2010. An informal telephone call between the parties must occur within 30 days of the patient’s request for mediation, and the full mediation session must be conducted within 180 days. Mediators will be appointed by the Texas Office of Administrative Hearings.

Star-Telegram.com (November 25, 2009)

2009 Developments In Mediation: Joint Commission Standard On Code Of Conduct (1/11/10)
Holly Hayes Bovio
Health care leaders have known for years that disruptive behaviors are a serious problem. Verbal outbursts, refusing to take part in assigned duties and condescending attitudes all create breakdowns in the teamwork, collaboration and communication needed to deliver patient care. A study by The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) found that 40 percent of clinicians have remained passive or kept quiet during patient care events rather than confront a known intimidator.

2009 Developments In Mediation: President Barack Obama's Plan For Tort Reform (12/28/09)
Holly Hayes Bovio
In September 2009, President Obama instructed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to move forward with awarding medical malpractice demonstration grants to states funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to help doctors focus on putting their patients first, not on practicing defensive medicine.

Me and Joe Lieberman: Fantasy Negotiations and Little Irrationalities (12/16/09)
Robert Benjamin
Joe Lieberman, the independent Senator from Connecticut, pissed me off today. First, he is screwing up the pending health care reform legislation, and second, he is forcing me to consider my commitment to negotiation and mediation. Others seem to enjoy fantasy football or picking the perfect baseball team. My amusement, as twisted as some might find it, is picturing myself in ‘the room’ negotiating the big stuff, like health care policy ‘reform’ pending in the U.S. Congress.

2009 Developments: Mediation Option For ‘Balance Billing’ In Health Care (12/14/09)
Holly Hayes Bovio
In June, we discussed the passage of Texas House Bill 2256, which provides a procedure for mediation of out-of-network health benefit claim disputes. Patients in Texas now have the option to mediate when they are ‘balance-billed’ by their insurance company for services provided by out-of-network facility-based physicians like radiologists, pathologists, neonatologists, and emergency room physicians.

Victim Or Gold-Digger: Rock Hudson's Former Partner Marc Christian Macginnis Passes (12/07/09)
Victoria Pynchon
Why discuss MacGinnis in a blog about negotiation and dispute resolution? Because we all have an imperfect understanding of the reasons people bring suit against one another.

Resolving Allegations Of Health Care Fraud – Does The Mediator Matter? (11/09/09)
Jerry Roscoe
Few dispute the goal of ensuring better health care through enforcement efforts and their deterrent effect. Health care fraud litigation generates much attention and significant revenues. However, litigation may be less adept at meeting the goal of improving health care delivery, at least not without significant transaction costs. To the extent that resolution of fraud allegations depends on negotiation, it is incumbent upon negotiators to be as effective as possible. Where fraud negotiations are complicated by the barriers cited above, mediation is advised.

Nebraska Supreme Court Refuses to Compel Arbitration in Nursing Home Case (11/09/09)
Victoria VanBuren
The present case comes as the U.S. Congress considers the Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act of 2009. This Act would render pre-dispute arbitration clauses in nursing home contracts unenforceable.

ADR = Arbitration Done Right? (9/21/09)
Jerry Roscoe
Despite the fact that an increasing number of matters are negotiated through mediation, arbitration remains the process of choice for many commercial and contract disputes, particularly in health care disputes. Given the popularity of arbitration, one is reasonably safe in placing litigators into one of two categories: those who have arbitrated and those who will. Either category of advocate (or their client) might benefit from a quick review of ADR or, in this case, Arbitration Done Right.

Industry Responses To Medical Malpractice Reform In President Obama's Health Care Plan (9/14/09)
Holly Hayes Bovio
President Obama’s Plan on Health Care includes a provision on medical malpractice reform that instructs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award medical malpractice demonstration grants to states funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

President Obama's Health Care Speech: Tort Reform Implications To Arbitration And Mediation (9/14/09)
Victoria VanBuren
President Obama’s speech to a joint session of the U.S.Congress delivered on September 9, briefly mentioned a proposal to move the medical malpractice lawsuits out of the court system and before mediators, medical expert panels, and arbitrators. Although we have not been able to find out the details of the plan –it appears that it will be announced within a month– here is what some commentators are saying about it

A Dispute Resolution Quote Of Note (9/14/09)
Diane J. Levin
Here’s something for all of us, regardless of political persuasion, to think about as America debates the big issues:

The True Motivations of Plaintiffs in Bringing Medical Injury Lawsuits (9/14/09)
Steve Mehta
Recently, I’ve been investigating the issues of the different parties perceptions in litigation and mediation. Oftentimes, you will hear phrases such as “this isn’t a lottery,” or “it’s really about the compensation to the family.” On many occasions, the attorneys for both sides will express that they believe the case is about money at the end of the day. However, during many mediations, I have felt that from the plaintiff/claimant’s perspective, it is often more about other things than the money.

How Should You Respond To The Noisy Health Reform Critics? (8/17/09)
Larry Susskind
So, what's the best advice we can give a Congressperson in such a situation? Most aren't going to get the easy ride that President Obama got in New Hampshire. Hard as he tried, he couldn't get any of the 1600 people present to challenge what he was saying. Here are five suggestions that grow out of what we have learned about facilitating public dialogue in politically charged situations:

Mediation In Healthcare (6/29/09)
Holly Hayes Bovio
A new leadership standard issued in January 2009 by The Joint Commission, the accrediting body for hospitals, addresses the development of a code of conduct that defines acceptable, disruptive, and inappropriate behaviors; and requires the creation and implementation of a process for managing disruptive and inappropriate behaviors.

Foundation Frequently Uses Mediation to Assist Seriously Ill Patients (6/15/09)
Keith Seat

A national non-profit, the Patient Advocate Foundation, relies on mediation to ensure that patients with life threatening or debilitating diseases have adequate access to care or receive other needed assistance. The Foundation’s annual Patient Data Analysis Report states that over 48,000 matters were successfully managed for patients last year using mediation or arbitration. The report noted that 93% of patients helped by the Foundation had some health insurance, but were often “underinsured” and lacked the ability to obtain the coverage needed.

PR Newswire (April 29, 2009)

Real World Interest Based Example — Heath Care Arena (5/18/09)
Joshua N. Weiss
In this podcast, Josh discusses a real world example from the Health Care arena where an interest based approach was employed and yielded wonderful results.

Mediator Facilitates Six-Month Discussion on Health Care Policy (5/13/09)
Keith Seat

Eighteen health-interest groups, including insurers, consumer advocates and hospitals, issued a report urging the government to meet the goal of all Americans having health insurance. With the help of a mediator over a six month period progress was made by the groups, which called their effort the Health Reform Dialogue, but consensus was not reached on divisive issues such as whether to mandate that all consumers must obtain health insurance. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees pulled out of the talks in February and the Service Employees International Union didn’t join on the report, but the 18 groups that issued the report included large entities such as the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of American and the American Medical Association.

Bloomberg (March 27, 2009)

WHO Measures Alter Routines: New Opportunities for Conflict Management Resulting from Influenza A (H1N1) (5/10/09)
Luis Miguel Diaz
Some writers have highlighted the positive impact of the world economic crisis in the growing professional field of mediation. I want to highlight new situations to practice conflict management skills, resulting from Influenza A (H1N1).

Contextualizing Disruptive Behavior in Health Care as a Conflict Management Challenge (2/23/09)
John Ford
Disruptive physician behavior has been defined by the American Medical Association as “personal conduct, whether verbal or physical, that affects or that potentially may affect patient care negatively.” It is assumed that disruptive behavior by health care workers impacts quality of care and patient safety. How best to respond to disruptive behavior is less clear. This article explores the utility in framing disruptive behavior as a conflict management systems challenge.

The Fight Against Mandatory Pre-Dispute Civil Arbitration Goes On (2/09/09)
José Antonio García Álvaro
An unprecedented legislative fight against mandatory, pre-dispute arbitration clauses has taken a new turn as the Senate Judiciary Committee approved bill S2838, the Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act. Earlier in July, the House Judiciary Committee approved HR6126, a bill with the same title.

Mandatory Med Mal Mediation Working in Illinois County (11/05/08)
Keith Seat

Mandatory mediation of medical malpractice cases in Madison County, which the Illinois Supreme Court approved in 2007 establishing the first rule of its kind in Illinois, worked as intended to settle a wrongful death case alleging inadequate care by a nursing home. The mediation rule is also considered unique by allowing parties to chose between lawyers and judges to mediate the case. In the wrongful death case, a judge was assigned in February to mediate the matter. The terms of the settlement were filed under seal and not disclosed.

The Madison - St. Clair Record (October 10, 2008)