Karl Bayer's Disputing Blog » Healthcare Disputes

Patient-Caregiver Communication

By Holly Hayes - May 7, 2012

By Holly Hayes An article in the New England Journal of Medicine titled, “Shared Decision Making — The Pinnacle of Patient-Centered Care” by Michael J. Barry, M.D., and Susan Edgman-Levitan, P.A. discusses the importance of the active engagement of patients and their families in health care decision-making. Healthcare is so fragmented and complex in the current environment, patients are often overwhelmed by the treatment options avail

Lessons in Healthcare Collaboration

By Holly Hayes - April 27, 2012

by Holly Hayes In the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, Deborah B. Gardner, PhD, RN, CS writes about “Ten Lessons in Collaboration“. The collaboration lessons summarized from the article and listed below are helpful for all nurses, clinical nurse managers and many others in the healthcare field. Dr. Gardner is the Chief of Planning and Organizational Development at the Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health. Table 1.

GUEST-POST | Who Pays the Hospital-Medical Staff Standing Neutral?

By Holly Hayes - April 20, 2012

By Richard J. Webb, Esq. This is a follow-up to a four part series of posts at the Healthcare Neutral ADR Blog on the hospital-medical staff standing neutral. See Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV. This concept requires a hospital and its organized medical staff to select a neutral expert in advance of any dispute, who will stand ready to assist the parties as problems arise, with the aim of resolving conflicts quickly and efficiently. It is

Life and Death Decisions: Bioethics Mediation

By Holly Hayes - April 13, 2012

by Holly Hayes I recently discovered the book Bioethics Mediation: A Guide to Shaping Shared Solutions by Nancy Neveloff Dubler and Carol B. Liebman. The book: offers stories about patients, families, and health care providers enmeshed in conflict as they wrestle with decisions about life and death. It provides guidance for those charged with supporting the patient’s traditional and religious commitments and personal wishes. Conflicts come

The Role of the Standing Neutral in Healthcare Conflict: Advantages and Disadvantages

By Holly Hayes - April 6, 2012

by Holly Hayes Richard J. Webb, LLC, writes the Healthcare Neutral ADR Blog. Over the last two months, he featured a four-part series on the value of a standing neutral in the healthcare setting. The four-part series of posts includes: introducing the concept, its advantages and relation to Joint Commission requirements, how to define the neutral’s role and Selecting A Hospital-Medicdl Staff Standing Neutral. The series focuses on two stand

Lowering Malpractice Risk through Disclosure

By Holly Hayes - March 23, 2012

by Holly Hayes The University of Michigan Health System implemented a system to respond to patient injuries and medical malpractice claims and has “lowered its average monthly cost rates for liability, patient compensation, reserves, and non-compensation legal costs” as well as reducing “its average monthly rate of new claims from 7.03 to 4.52 claims per 100,000 patient encounters, decreased the average monthly rate of lawsuits

Arbitrating with Your Doctor?

By Holly Hayes - March 16, 2012

We recently stumbled upon an article regarding the sudden prevalence of arbitration agreements (between doctors and patients) in the context of medical procedures. Here is an excerpt: Arbitration agreements seem to be popping up in every kind of transaction these days. For those who are unfamiliar with them, they are contracts where parties give up their rights to go to court and present their cases to judges and juries. These probably make sense

Nursing Focus on Conflict Engagement

By Holly Hayes - March 9, 2012

by Holly Hayes The American Nurse, the official publication of the American Nurses Association, published the article The Art of Engagement: Nurses, ANA work to address conflict. Here is an excerpt: Engage in conflict? Many nurses would rather head for the hills, or at least down the hall. But at Gundersen Lutheran Health System, nurses are being asked to face conflict head on to create a better workplace and ensure safer patient care. “In genera

Bold Predictions about Health Care Reform

By Holly Hayes - March 2, 2012

by Holly Hayes Marc Bard, chief innovation office in Navigant’s health care practice, and co-author of the book “Accountable Care Organizations, Your Guide to Strategy, Design, and Implementation” made six predictions about health care reform last week. The predictions are listed in the blog CommonHealth Reform and Reality and are in response to some specific changes in Massachusetts health care reform. Two predictions include: More t

Answers to Physician Questions about ACOs

By Holly Hayes - February 17, 2012

by Holly Hayes This week, Medscape News posted an interview regarding physicians’ questions about ACOs (Accountable Care Organizations) with Anders M. Gilberg, senior vice president of Government Affairs, Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). The 15 questions and answers can be seen here. As the article points out, “The first voluntary ACO agreements will start on April 1 and July 1, 2012, and run for 3 years as part of the Med