WSJ: New ADR Services For Healthcare Field
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From Jeff Thompson's Enjoy Mediation Blog July 2010 |
From the Wall Street Journal on July 22nd:
To cut medical-malpractice costs, five New York City hospitals have agreed to a pilot program to divulge medical mistakes early, offer settlements quickly and use special state "health courts,' where judges will help negotiate agreements before cases go to trial.
..."Judge-directed negotiations' will likely resemble a long-time mediation effort by Bronx Judge Douglas McKeon, who is credited with helping to cut malpractice costs incurred by New York City's Health and Hospitals Corp., which runs the city's public hospitals. The mediation effort has cut payouts to $130 million this year, from a high of $196 million in 2003, said Al Aviles, HHC's president.
...Nicholas I. Timko, president of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, said he was hopeful but had concerns. "We favor initiatives that promote patient safety, but are concerned that the disclosure and early settlement program may allow negligent providers to escape responsibility for their actions and exploit patients unrepresented by counsel,' he said.
Read the full article [here].
Of course this raises many, many questions. To start with, here are two:
1) is this a new form of med-arb?
2) Do the judges have any formal mediation training?
Biography
Jeff Thompson is a certified international mediator. He is also a law enforcement detective in New York. His law enforcement role include a being a communication and conflict specialist, interfaith dialogue, developing and implementing community engagement programs, and designing training workshops.
Jeff is currently a PhD candidate researching nonverbal communication and mediation at Griffith University Law School. He also received his MS in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution from the Creighton University School of Law. Jeff has presented and trained on the topic of conflict, mediation, communication and nonverbal communication internationally and has been published and featured with numerous international media organizations. He currently writes also at PsychologyToday.com.
(All posts by Jeff Thompson represent his personal reflections and opinions as a mediator and not that of any organization.)
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