The Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division has ordered a proposed class-action Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit to individual arbitration. 

Brian Farkas, Adjunct Professor of Law at Cardozo School of Law, has published, “Contracting Jurisdiction: Arbitration of Noncompetition Disputes in Employment Agreements,” New York University Journal of Law and Business, Vol. 15, No. 3, 2019. 

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has created a circuit split regarding whether 28 U.S.C. §1782(a) authorizes a federal court to order discovery in a private international arbitration proceeding. 

Fordham University School of Law Professor Jacqueline M. Nolan-Haley has published, “Mediators in Arbitration,” Oxford Handbook of International Arbitration, Chapter 14, (Thomas Schultz and Federico Ortino Editors).

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 available. Caregivers are often not aware of their patient’s values and how those values impact the medical decisions that must be made. When more than one viable treatment or screening option exists, clinicians can facilitate shared decision making by encouraging patients to let clinicians know what they care about and by providing decision aids that raise the patient’s awareness and understanding of treatment options and possible outcomes. Decision aids, which can be delivered online, on paper, or on video, can efficiently help patients absorb relevant clinical evidence and aid them in developing and communicating informed preferences, particularly for possible outcomes that they have not yet experienced. Just as there are randomized trials of tests and treatments, there have been randomized trials of shared decision making supported by patient decision aids. According to the latest Cochrane review of 86 trials published through 2009, the use of patient decision aids for a range of preference-sensitive decisions led to increased knowledge, more accurate risk perceptions, a greater number of decisions consistent with patients’ values, a reduced level of internal decisional conflict for patients, and fewer patients remaining passive or undecided.5 The use of decision aids is also associated with patients’ choosing prostate-specific–antigen tests for prostate-cancer screening and major elective surgery less often, which suggests that shared decision making could be a tool to help address the problems of overdiagnosis and overtreatment.5 Through shared decision making, clinicians can help patients understand the importance of their values and preferences in making the decisions that are best for them. Experience has shown that when patients know they have options for the best treatment, screening test, or diagnostic procedure, most of them will want to participate with their clinicians in making the choice. This interest is shared by patients worldwide, as demonstrated by the recent release of the Salzburg statement endorsing shared decision making, authored by representatives from 18 countries. In our post Patients Engage in Their Own Care More Often When Encouraged by Providers, we discuss the traditional provider/patient roles and how conflict engagement skills can be of benefit to healthcare providers in engaging patients in a shared decision model. We welcome your thoughts on shared decision making in healthcare. Holly Hayes is a mediator at Karl Bayer, Dispute Resolution Expert where she focuses on mediation of health care disputes. Holly holds a B.A. from Southern Methodist University and a Masters in Health Administration from Duke University. She can be reached at holly@karlbayer.com.

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. Summary of Collaboration Lessons Lesson #1: Know thyself.Many realities exist simultaneously. Each person’s reality is based on self-developed perceptions. Requisite to trusting self and others is in knowing your own mental model (biases, values, and goals).Lesson #2: Learn to value and manage diversity.Differences are essential assets for effective collaborative processes and outcomes.Lesson #3: Develop constructive conflict resolution skills.In the collaborative paradigm, conflict is viewed as natural and as an opportunity to deepen understanding and agreement.Lesson # 4: Use your power to create win-win situationsThe sharing of power and the recognition of one’s own power base is part of effective collaboration.Lesson #5: Master interpersonal and process skills. Clinical competence, cooperation, and flexibility are the most frequently identified attributes important to effective collaborative practice. Lesson #6: Recognize that collaboration is a journey. The skill and knowledge needed for effective collaboration take time and practice. Conflict resolution, clinical excellence, appreciative inquiry, and knowledge of group process are all life-long learning skills. Lesson #7: Leverage all multidisciplinary forums. Being present both physically and mentally in team forums can provide an opportunity to assess how and when to offer collaborative communications for partnership building. Lesson #8: Appreciate that collaboration can occur spontaneously. Collaboration is a mutually established condition that can happen spontaneously if the right factors are in place. Lesson #9: Balance autonomy and unity in collaborative relationships. Learn from your collaborative successes and failures. Becoming part of an exclusive team can be as bad as working in isolation. Be willing to seek feedback and admit mistakes. Be reflective, willing to seek feedback, and admit mistakes for dynamic balance. Lesson #10: Remember that collaboration is not required for all decisions. Collaboration is not a panacea, nor is it needed in all situations   Holly Hayes is a mediator at Karl Bayer, Dispute Resolution Expert where she focuses on mediation of health care disputes. Holly holds a B.A. from Southern Methodist University and a Masters in Health Administration from Duke University. She can be reached at holly@karlbayer.com.