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Expert Roundtable Convened by JCAHO Calls for a New System of Medical Justice February 10, 2005 The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), the nation's predominant standards-setting and accrediting body in healthcare, is calling for exploration of alternatives to the current medical liability system. "The current proposal for caps on non-economic damages [should] be expanded to pursue ... long-term system changes which truly facilitate patient safety," JCAHO said in a press release.
JCAHO made its call to action at a February 10, 2005 news conference that brought together leading experts on medical liability reform, including Common Good chair Philip K. Howard. "Medical justice is no longer reliable and has infected health care with a debilitating distrust," Howard said. "What we need now is a new system of medical justice that will restore confidence in the law for patients and doctors alike."
At the news conference, JCAHO released a new white paper, Health Care at the Crossroads: Strategies for Improving the Medical Liability System and Preventing Patient Injury. The paper was compiled through input from a 29-member expert roundtable, which included Howard.
Also on the roundtable were five prominent endorsers of Common Good's health court proposal, including Troyen Brennan, MD, JD, MPH, Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health; Alice Gosfield, Esq., of Alice Gosfield and Associates, P.C.; Martin J. Hatlie, JD, President of the Partnership for Patient Safety; Kenneth W. Kizer, MD, MPH, President and C.E.O. of the National Quality Forum; and Susan Sheridan, Co-founder of Consumers Advancing Patient Safety.
The white paper concludes that "[t]here is a fundamental dissonance between the medical liability system and the patient safety movement. The latter depends on the transparency of information on which to base improvement; the former drives such information underground. As a result, neither patients nor health care providers are well served by the current medical liability system."
JCAHO and its expert roundtable make three broad recommendations:
- Pursue patient safety initiatives that prevent medical injury;
- Promote open communication between patients and practitioners; and
- Create an injury compensation system that is patient-centered and serves the common good.
The paper recommends demonstration projects on alternatives to the medical liability system, including Common Good's special health court proposal. Common Good is working with the Harvard School of Public Health to design a health court system.
To learn more:
- Read about Common Good's health court proposal.
- Read JCAHO's press release. (No longer available on-line)
- Read Health Care at the Cross Roads: Strategies for Improving the Medical Liability System and Preventing Patient Injury. (No longer available on-line)
- Visit JCAHO's website.
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