Where Does ADR Fit in Health Care?

By Holly Hayes

Readers have asked us, “where does ADR fit in health care? It’s a good question and one we have contemplated ourselves. To learn more, we are undertaking an informal survey asking leaders in the field to share their thoughts and experiences on this topic. So far, we have learned that ADR techniques can be applied with the following groups:

Physician Practices and Hospitals: As more and more physicians move out of private practice and into salaried positions with hospitals, alternative dispute resolution can help both groups reach agreement on the business model that will work best for them. A recent article from the New York Times, titled, “More Doctors Giving Up Private Practices” states, “As recently as 2005, more than two-thirds of medical practices were physician-owned –a share that had been relatively constant for many years, the Medical Group Management Association says. But within three years, that share dropped below 50 percent, and analysts say the slide has continued.”

Physician and Physician: We posted about Dr. Howard Brody’s recommendation (post available here) that physicians take an active role in determining the most effective use of medical procedures to help decrease health care costs. This article from the New York Times, “Law May Do Little to Help Curb Unnecessary Care” states, “To truly change the national chronic overuse of medical care, there will have to be a substantial change in the way patients think about health care, how medicine is practiced and how it is paid for, economists and doctors say.” We believe conflict resolution techniques can greatly benefit this on-going discussion of appropriate medical care.

Physician and Hospital: We have written about disruptive physician behavior here and how mediation can be helpful.

Staff Member and Manager: The Joint Commission now requires that hospitals develop conflict management systems. See more here.

As we learn more about conflict resolution in health care, we will post responses here. This list is not intended to be comprehensive and we welcome your comments.