Mediation reduces patient complaints and litigation costs, and will often eliminate the need to spend time and resources attending depositions or responding to disclosure requests.
Mediation can be a hospital’s first, and most effective, means to restore trust with patients and other clients, whether the problem is disruptive behavior by a caregiver or unintended harm done to a patient.
BioLaw Ethics Institute offers skill-based services in conflict resolution, relationship building and collaborative practice as recommended by Joint Commission Standards and informed by emerging medical dispute resolution experience. We help you by
- Providing mediation services for all clinicians and managers in relationship building and collaborative practice, in the event of unprofessional, intimidating or disruptive behaviors;
- Creating a consistent organizational culture of empathizing, acknowledging, thanking and apologizing;
- Educating all staff on conflict management policy and procedures in a way that encourages their support;
- Providing a forum for conflict management that accords with The Joint Commission’s recommendations.
According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2010, the incidence of “medically induced harm” has been intractable in spite of programs implemented to reduce it. The rate of harms was 25.1 per 100 admissions, or 56.5 harms per 1000 patient-days, of which 63% were considered preventable.
Hospitals are advised by The Joint Commission to develop a Code of Conduct for health care providers and a means to enforce the standards through a conflict management system and compliance program. The Joint Commission encourages inter-professional dialogues across a variety of forums as a proactive way of addressing ongoing conflicts, overcoming them, and moving forward through improved collaboration and communication. BioLaw Ethics Institute does that by Closing the Circle.
Mediation has a strong track record of resolving disputes between staff and patients, especially in the incidence of medical error.
“I’m sorry doesn’t mean I’m liable.” After an unanticipated outcome, patients want to engage in open and honest communication with their physicians. They want to know what happened and why; an apology if appropriate; an appropriate reduction of charges; and assurances that the problem will not happen again. Mediation is a process to facilitate communication that can meet patients’ information needs while addressing a physician’s needs and communication style.
BioLaw Ethics Institute provides the above mediation and conflict resolution services.
We can also train your staff to offer these services.