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Rising healthcare costs has been a topic on everyone’s mind, particularly in light of recent legislation.  While legislators are working to make healthcare costs more manageable—both for the government and for citizens—there is still a wide range of disputes that can arise among insurance companies, doctors and patients.  These disputes, if not resolved quickly, can become unmanageable in terms of cost and time, and can quickly lead to litigation capable of ruining a physician’s reputation or financial outlook.

Whether the conflict is between a carrier and a policy holder, a physician and a patient, medical staff and family members or labor and management, healthcare mediation is a low-cost, effective way of resolving disputes that arise in the healthcare industry.  With the assistance of a third-party, neutral mediator who understands healthcare law and its implications for providers, patients and insurance companies, healthcare disputes can be dealt with confidentially and effectively, avoiding the devastating impact that litigation can bring.

Healthcare mediation can also help deal with a provider’s rising costs or potential financial losses, including staff cuts and significant changes within the insurance industry.  Dealing with conflicts before they get out of hand is vital to making sure that a provider or employer can get back to business as usual without risking reputation and loss of a positive brand image.

In fact, one of the primary reasons healthcare costs have skyrocketed so significantly is the increase in litigation resulting from healthcare-related disputes.  These disputes have reached such a critical level that doctors are forced to cut corners in their services provided just to mitigate the risk of litigation.  Healthcare mediation, on the other hand, works to help parties in dispute arrive at a fair and reasonable resolution to a healthcare dispute, avoiding litigation altogether.  Not only is this good for maintaining a positive relationships between parties involved in health care—it also helps to slowly lower the rising healthcare costs that are sweeping our nation.