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Physicians spend a lot of money to protect themselves and their practice from medical malpractice claims. Regardless of how good a physician is at his or her job, the likelihood of being sued for medical malpractice is always present —good or bad, when someone believes a medical mistake was made and suffered loss as a result, emotions can run high and make litigation a first response.
The problem with most medical malpractice lawsuits is that it immediately sets everyone involved, particularly the physician, on the defensive. A medical malpractice lawsuit could be disastrous for a physician’s reputation and career, causing him or her to “lawyer up” in order to protect their job and status within the community of medical professionals. However, on a personal level, many physicians feel betrayed and vulnerable in the midst of such claims, wishing that the patient had not gone to such extreme legal means to be compensated for a possible mistake that was made.
For this reason, among others, medical malpractice mediation is an excellent way to resolve disputes concerning possible mistakes that were made on behalf of a doctor or other professional within the medical field. In medical malpractice mediation, all parties will be able to discuss the dispute with a neutral mediator who is trained in laws relating to medical practice. Within these sessions, a mutual agreement can be reached that not only saves time and money for everyone involved, but also saves the reputation of the physician who may or may not have been at fault in the claim.
Medical malpractice mediation promotes open communication and assists the disputants in maintaining mutual respect and trust while working out the details of a settlement. An added benefit is that since the result of any settlement reached may not be binding unless the parties agreed, they have the option of later moving the case to litigation if they feel that mediation hasn’t resolved the conflict to everyone’s satisfaction.
