Malpractice Claims Are Helpful to Hospitals

The usual argument for limiting the rights of patients to sue when they have been injured by medical negligence is that malpractice claims are harmful to the medical industry.  Even if true, that would not be a good reason for allowing the medical industry to avoid responsibility when it injures someone.  As it stands, however, it is not true that malpractice claims are always harmful.

Our system of civil justice handed down to us from ancient England is based in part on the proposition that people and institutions will change their behavior to avoid being sued.  After all, it is only common sense to take steps to avoid injuring people and to reduce the costs of lawsuits.  In a survey of over 400 people responsible for hospital risk management, claims management and quality improvement in health care centers around the country, Joanna Schwartz, a UCLA law professor and author on the effects of the tort system on decision making, found that malpractice claims are playing a valuable role in identifying risks for hospitals and helping them address errors.  Ms. Schwartz discussed her findings in a recent editorial in the New York Times.  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/17/opinion/how-health-care-is-learning-from-lawsuits.html?emc=eta1

Ms. Schwartz reports that hospitals are getting information from malpractice claims which often goes unreported and are using it to improve patient safety.  Hospitals are becoming more open and transparent when there has been a medical error and are taking advantage of state laws which forbid evidence of an apology from being used against the hospital in the event of a suit.  According to Ms. Schwartz, these actions are enabling hospitals to both improve safety and settle cases early for less than what it might cost if suit were filed and expensive discovery were conducted.

It is refreshing to see that malpractice claims can not only vindicate the rights of those patients who have been injured but can make things better for future patients as well.

 

 

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