Update: HHS Medical Liability Grants

by Holly Hayes

Grants distributed by the Health and Human Services (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) are moving forward with programs to address medical liability according to the Modern Healthcare April 2012 issue. See more here

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center received a planning grant of almost $274,000 to institute a program they call Disclosure, Apology and Offer. The program “consists of disclosing when adverse events occur, investigating why they happened, sharing information with patients and their families and then offering financial compensation and bypassing the court system”. Dr. Alan Woodward, chairman of the Massachusetts Medical Society Committee on Professional Liability says, “malpractice cases in Massachusetts take five and a half years to resolve. Of the dollars physicians pay for liability premiums, only 30% goes to patients, with the rest covering insurance company overhead, attorney and expert witness fees and other court costs”. He added, “You can do a root-cause analysis at relatively low cost and put the findings on the table.”

The University of Illinois at Chicago received a demonstration grant to expand its disclosure, apology and offer program to other area hospitals. Their program, called Seven Pillars, has been in place since 2006 and has resulted in reduction in malpractice claims and premiums. Most importantly, the investigation of adverse events has resulted in fewer incidents of patient harm.

The New York State Unified Court System received a grant for a “judge-directed negotiation program” aimed at offering an “opportunity to settle before litigation gets into full swing”. Participating judges attended a three-day education session that included medical legal issues and mediation techniques.

These programs are alternatives to tort reforms or special healthcare courts. Dr. Woodward believes it will be a long time before either of those alternatives is adopted in Massachusetts.

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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.