Hospitals Turn to Mediation to Resolve Hospital Errors

Scott Smith

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In an attempt to curtail costly legal expenses in defending medical malpractice claims the University of Pittsburgh's Medical Center has aggressively pursued a process of mediation in an attempt to resolve malpractice claims before they go to court. The advantage of doing so is not only sensible but demonstrates medical providers change in position that has been urged for years by medical malpractice attorneys who represent victims of hospital errors.

The mediation process is beneficial not only to the medical provider but also the injured patient as it provides not only monetary settlement but also non-economic recourse such as plaques, monuments, or hospital rooms named in the patient's honor.

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center mediated 77 cases and settled 68 of them from 2004 through mid-January 2007, according to Richard Kidwell, Associate Counsel and Director of Patient Safety and Risk Management at the hospital. Kidwell, a national expert in mediation developed the program borrowed from the John Hopkins Medical Institution in Baltimore and implemented the practice in Pittsburgh with great successes. However, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center mandates all patients sign an agreement prior to receiving treatment that requires the patient to resolve any potential future claims for negligence through mediation before ever filing a complaint against the medical provider. Although the hospital claims this process to be voluntary and confidential, the agreement could be deemed a contract between the patient and the medical provider that could be binding in a court of law.

The Pittsburgh mediation system implements one mediator who entertains statements or arguments from the patient and medical providers' attorneys in a joint session prior to meeting with each side individually in an attempt to resolve the dispute. This form of alternative dispute resolution is certainly a welcome site not only to patients but also medical providers. If the process was required throughout the country and entered into earnestly by both sides, many malpractice lawsuits could be avoided.