e Podiatry Consent Forms

In with Contract Law – Out with Tort Law and Litigation

Dr. David Edward Marcinko; FACFAS, MBA

The National Center for Policy Analysis [NCPA] recently reported that more than 98 percent of people injured by negligent medical care never filed a lawsuit. Moreover, among the lawsuits that are filed, one in three doesn’t involve medical errors and only 46 percent of the payouts in malpractice cases go to patients. 

Issues Numerous

Of course, the threat of malpractice litigation causes great distress for doctors. One in four is sued in any given year, while more than half are sued at least once during a career.

Therefore, the NCPA proposed using voluntary medical care legal contracts to:

• Pre-determine economic damages in the event of unexpected death or disability.
• Allow the economic payouts to be risk-adjusted.
• Require doctors to disclose quality information.
• Mandate patient accountability with medical orders.  

Assessment

The center said that a legal contract system might compensate patients harmed by medical errors, reduce the cost of determining fault and compensation, and encourage health care providers and patients to reduce the frequency of errors. Of course, the informed-consent process; with its signature forms, is a type of legal contract as well.

Conclusion:

What do you think about this new health law vision of medical negligence as contract law? How is it related to informed consent? Is a medial consent-form a legal contract? Please opine and comment.

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko MBA is available for medical seminars or other speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com  or Bio: www.stpub.com/pubs/authors/MARCINKO.htm

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Related Information Sources:

Board Certification Preparation: www.PodiatryPrep.com

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Healthcare Organizations: www.HealthcareFinancials.com

Health Administration Terms: www.HealthDictionarySeries.com

Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.com

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