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Health Courts & Administrative Compensation: Opportunities for Safety EnhancementNovember 8, 2006
Location: Kaiser Family Foundation Barbara Jordan Conference Center, Washington, DC
EVENT SUMMARY: At the Forum on Health Courts and Administrative Compensation, academics, state legislators, lawyers, consumer group representatives, insurance industry leaders, and other interested parties gathered to discuss the potential for new alternatives to medical injury litigation, particularly health courts. Health courts would not only provide more consistent financial compensation to injured patients, but could also help to prevent future medical errors and promote a more reliable system of medical justice—one that both patients and doctors can trust. Hon. Robert O’Leary of the Massachusetts State Senate reminded the audience that healthcare reform is not wholly about compensation: “It’s about the quality of healthcare, which is of the greatest public value.”
Many participants stressed that the medical justice system in this country is deeply flawed and undermines patient safety. According to Linda Kenney, the President and Founder of Medically Induced Trauma Support Services, part of the healing process for injured patients is knowing that action will be taken to fix the system so that future patients do not suffer. As Harvard Professors Michelle Mello and David Studdert discussed, the current system generally fails to deter future errors, while a health court system would enhance deterrence. Dr. Dennis O’Leary of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and others pointed out that in order for healthcare reform to succeed, we must also consider retraining physicians to perform better root-cause analysis, providing patients with more choices to report and appeal their claims, educating healthcare professionals to implement systems solutions, and creating the right incentives for hospitals to conduct more safety analysis. As currently envisioned, the health court model incorporates many of these elements, and would dovetail very well with a range of other quality enhancement initiatives that could help to accomplish these goals. Finally, a number of panelists representing diverse interests recommended ways to improve and set in motion health court pilot projects at the state level to establish a medical justice system that is more beneficial to all parties involved in the healthcare debate.
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PUBLIC FORUM
HEALTH COURTS & ADMINISTRATIVE COMPENSATION: OPPORTUNITIES FOR SAFETY ENHANCEMENT
Even as Congress remains deadlocked over medical liability reform, there is growing interest in promising new alternatives to injury litigation. This forum will include presentations about the potential for an administrative injury compensation approach to facilitate enhancements in patient safety. It will also address legal and regulatory barriers that may be implicated in shifting to an administrative approach, and will provide perspectives on a number of nascent reform efforts around the country.
Presenters
Professors David Studdert and Michelle Mello
Harvard School of Public Health
E. Donald Elliott
Partner, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP; Adjunct Professor, Yale Law School
Edward A. Dauer
Dean Emeritus, University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Respondents and Panelists
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Sharon King Donohue ~ General Counsel |
Fran Cadez ~ Consultant |
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National Committee for Quality Assurance |
Wyoming Health Care Commission |
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Linda K. Kenney ~ President and Founder |
George Dikeou ~ Legislative Consultant |
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Medically Induced Trauma Support Services |
COPIC Insurance Company |
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John L. (Jack) McCarthy ~ President |
Lawrence G. Feinberg ~ Attorney |
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CRICO/RMF |
Pennsylvania General Assembly |
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Dennis S. O’Leary, M.D. ~ President |
Stephen Northrup ~ Health Policy Staff Director |
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Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations |
U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions |
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David A. Swankin, Moderator |
The Honorable Robert O’Leary |
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Citizen Advocacy Center |
Massachusetts State Senate |
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The Honorable Steven I. Platt ~ Judge |
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Circuit Court, State of Maryland |
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David B. Kendall, Moderator |
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Progressive Policy Institute |
Agenda Related material | |
