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Medical malpractice mediation is on the rise, as is the number of Americans that have been hurt or killed by negligent doctors and health care workers.  According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), while heart disease and cancer hold the number one and number two spots, medical malpractice is the third most common cause of death in the US.  In fact, an amount totaling over $3 billion was paid out to medical malpractice victims in 2012, with an average lawsuit of one payout every 43 minutes.

So considering these startling numbers, there is a very high likelihood that at some point in your life, you could be involved in a medical malpractice claim requiring mediation.  However, just because you achieved disappointing results after a surgery or things didn’t go quite like the doctor suggested they would, it doesn’t mean you have a viable medical malpractice claim.  If you do have a viable claim, medical malpractice mediation offers considerable advantage over litigation:

1. The final outcome remains in your hands.  You won’t have anyone else determining your settlement—it will be an agreement between you and the health care provider.  This also means that if you are not offered an agreeable settlement by the other party, you have the option to reject the offer and move the case through to litigation.

2. Payouts start coming in quicker.  Since litigated medical malpractice claims can take several months (even years) to reach resolution, your potential settlement will also be that far down the road.  With medical malpractice mediation, as soon as a settlement is agreed upon by the parties in conflict, payouts can and do begin.

3. Neither side needs to pay outside lawyers.  This certainly makes medical malpractice mediation more inviting, especially since attorney fees in a litigated case can end up costing more than originally anticipated.

4. Mediation can be a stepping stone.  Mediation can operate as a stepping stone to arbitration or litigation, which are both options if mediation doesn’t work.  If you are unhappy with the results of mediation, you can look for other options for resolving your legal claim.