Slashing medical malpractice costs with judge-mediated negotiation

In New York state, some 900 medical malpractice cases are pending. And there's a good chance not all will go to trial, because come fall, a pilot program will take a different path to judge-directed negotiations.

Under the program, five hospitals in New York City aim to cut medical malpractice costs by revealing medical mistakes early, quickly offering settlements and using special state "health courts," where judges will help negotiate agreements before cases go to trial, the Wall Street Journal reports. The project involves Beth Israel Medical Center, Mount Sinai Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Maimonides Medical Center, and Montefiore Medical Center.

The federal government will cover three years of funding with $3 million. The goal is to cut the $1.4 billion spent each year in New York State on medical malpractice premiums, hospital and state officials told WSJ.

Although hospitals already offer settlements to patients when errors occur, the pilot offers a different approach to conflict resolution by having consenting parties go to a judge who will mediate the disputes.

This will be one of a growing number of alternative mediation efforts that have been tested in the U.S. In the Bronx, a mediation effort cut malpractice payouts to $130 million this year, from $196 million in 2003, Al Aviles, the president of New York City's Health and Hospitals Corp., told WSJ.

To learn more:
- read the Wall Street Journal article [1]
- here's a piece [2] by the Maryland Malpractice Lawyers 

Related Stories:
Study supports link between improved patient safety and reduced malpractice claims [3]
To lower your malpractice risk, be firmly committed to reporting, assessing and 'fessing up [4]