Perhaps treatments and procedures did not turn out as well as planned. You feel bad about it and want to apologize. Saying "I'm sorry" goes a long way to improve relations between you the physician and the patients, making both them and you feel better. The problem is that until now, apologies would be tantamount to admitting guilt.

Now, programs are being instituted to discuss injuries and problems with a patient directly including apologies and delineation of steps to rectify the situation. More importantly however, these discussions are now inadmissible in court if legal action is brought against you.

Additionally, states are promoting voluntary dispute resolution for compensating the injured parties provided the health care.

Several new developments have been suggested for implementation of an improved medical liability system. Here are but a few:

Certificate of Merit: Plaintiffs would be required to file an affidavit with the court demonstrating that the case has merit before it can proceed, This Certificate of Merit must include a written opinion from a legally qualified health care provider confirming that there was a deviation from reasonable standard of care which provoked or contributed to the claimed injuries.

Special Health Care Courts: Judges specifically trained for health care cases would hear medical malpractice cases exclusively. Not only would possible awards be made, but also deficiencies would be addressed to reduce future errors, thereby improving public safety.

Deviation Protection: Documenting justifications for departure from accepted practice would afford protection from liability claims.

Early Offer Procedures: This program is established to permit a health care provider or facility to offer compensation to the injured patient without an actual court case. This would be an incentive to make an offer in good faith, early on and patients likewise would have an incentive to accept reasonable offers.
If no offer were accepted, the injured party would have to prove deviation of care at a higher level when filing a lawsuit.

Catastrophic Injury Funds: accounts would be established for patients with bad or tragic outcomes as in birth injuries

Review Panels: These special medical boards would supply an expert opinion as to whether the health care provider acted appropriate and within acceptable community standards.

Expert Witness Eligibility: For someone to act as expert witness, it would be required for this individual to have trained in the same specialty, performing the same procedure in question and actively practicing medicine in the same specialty as the defendant within five years of the suit.

Alternatively, this individual could show that he or she was taught and trained in this procedure or treatment at an accredited medical school or hospital.

For my subscribers,colleagues and friends: You can copy any content in this newsletter for your own use as long as the following accompanies it and the link is live:
Reprinted by permission of Internet copywriter Barbara Hales. For more information on innovations and tips, subscribe to the Medical Strategist at:
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