The Golden State Warriors professional basketball team has reportedly agreed to engage in private mediation with a fan who filed a proposed class action lawsuit claiming the team recorded her private conversations using a smartphone app.

Texas’ Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas has affirmed a lower court’s order confirming an arbitration award in a securities case. 

S.I. Strong, Manley O. Hudson Professor of Law at the University of Missouri School of Law, has published “Applying the Lessons of International Commercial Arbitration to International Commercial Mediation: A Dispute System Design Analysis,” Book chapter in Mediation in International Commercial and Investment Disputes (Oxford University Press, Catharine Titi and Katia Fach Gomez , eds.) 2018 Forthcoming; University of Missouri School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2018-01.

Guillermo Jose Garcia Sanchez, Associate Professor of Law at the Texas A&M University School of Law and Affiliated Scholar at the University of Houston’s Center for U.S. and Mexican Law, has published “The Blurring of the Public/Private Distinction or the Collapse of a Category? The Story of Investment Arbitration,” Nevada Law Journal, Forthcoming. 

by Holly Hayes Health care leaders have known for years that disruptive behaviors are a serious problem. Verbal outbursts, refusing to take part in assigned duties and condescending attitudes all create breakdowns in the teamwork, collaboration and communication needed to deliver patient care. A study by The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) found that 40 percent of clinicians have remained passive or kept quiet during patient care events rather than confront a known intimidator. In May, we reviewed an accreditation standard (LD.01.03.01) issued by The Joint Commission in January expected to prompt hospitals to explore an expanded use of mediation to manage conflict in the healthcare setting. Conflict Management Standard LD.01.03.01 states, “The governing body is ultimately accountable for the safety and quality of care, treatment, and services.” Elements of Performance, or how The Joint Commission will score the standard, include: Development of a code of conduct that defines acceptable, disruptive, and inappropriate behaviors; and creation and implementation of a process for managing disruptive and inappropriate behaviors. In an effort to put an end to disruptive behaviors among healthcare providers, the Joint Commission recommends that health care organizations take 11 specific steps, including the following: Educate all health care team members about professional behavior Hold all team members accountable for modeling desirable behaviors, and enforce the code of conduct consistently and equitably; Establish a comprehensive approach to addressing intimidating and disruptive behaviors that includes a zero tolerance policy; strong involvement and support from physician leadership; reducing fears of retribution against those who report intimidating and disruptive behaviors; empathizing with and apologizing to patients and families who are involved in or witness intimidating or disruptive behaviors; Develop a system to detect and receive reports of unprofessional behavior, and use non-confrontational interaction strategies to address intimidating and disruptive behaviors within the context of an organizational commitment to the health and well-being of all staff and patients. A survey conducted by the American College of Physician Executives published in November, almost one year after the Joint Commission began requiring health care facilities to implement zero-tolerance policies for disruptive behaviors, tells us there is still work to be done in this area. According to anonymous responses to a national survey of 13,000 physician and nurse executives, ninety-seven percent experienced unprofessional outbursts and overreactions, with the majority saying these happened several times a year and sometimes weekly. Physician and nurse executives respondants solutions to decreasing disruptive behavior included: setting clear expectations, implementing consistent enforcement and focusing on teamwork. Mediation is one non-confrontational interaction strategy that can be implemented to resolve conflict, improve the working relationships of the parties involved and enhance teamwork and patient safety. Technorati Tags: Healthcare, ADR, law, mediation 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 September 2009, President Obama instructed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to move forward with awarding medical malpractice demonstration grants to states funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to help doctors focus on putting their patients first, not on practicing defensive medicine. (read more here and here) In October, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a letter updating its analysis of the effects of proposals to limit costs related to medical malpractice (“tort reform”). Tort reform could affect costs for health care both directly and indirectly: directly, by lowering premiums for medical liability insurance; and indirectly, by reducing the use of diagnostic tests and other health care services when providers recommend those services principally to reduce their potential exposure to lawsuits. The CBO estimated that implementing a typical package of tort reform proposals nationwide would reduce total U.S. health care spending by about 0.5 percent (about $11 billion in 2009) or roughly $54 billion over the next 10 years. That figure is the sum of a direct reduction in spending of 0.2 percent from lower medical liability premiums and an additional indirect reduction of 0.3 percent from slightly less utilization of health care services. Those estimates take into account the fact that because many states have already implemented some of the changes in the package, a significant fraction of the potential cost savings has already been realized. (read more here) In November, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) announced it will solicit applications for planning grants from States and health care systems for “patient safety and medical liability innovations that put patient safety first and work to reduce preventable injuries; foster better communication between doctors and nurses; ensure that patients are compensated in a fair and timely manner for medical injuries, while also reducing the incidence of frivolous lawsuits; and reduce liability premiums”. Grant proposals may be submitted beginning December 20 and are due by January 20, 2010. (read more here) Technorati Tags: Healthcare, ADR, law, mediation 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.