Medical Malpractice Systems Around the Globe : Examples from the US-Tort Liability System and the Sweden-No Fault System
In this paper two main medical malpractice systems are discussed - tort liability system in the US and no-fault system adopted in OECD countries- most notably in Sweden. These systems were discussed from administrative issues, deterrence, financing...
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| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/797831486996063182/Medical-malpractice-systems-around-the-globe-examples-from-the-US-tort-liability-systemand-the-Sweden-no-fault-system http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26120 |
| Summary: | In this paper two main medical
malpractice systems are discussed - tort liability system in
the US and no-fault system adopted in OECD countries- most
notably in Sweden. These systems were discussed from
administrative issues, deterrence, financing,compensation,
costs occur to parties involved in malpractice cases,
quality of care and finally their impact on health care
costs. Tort liability system is a “social insurance of a
market society” where patients are compensated when the
negligence is proved to be the cause of the injury, whereas
no-fault system is a “social insurance of goodwill” where
the patients are compensated without proof of providers’
fault. Tort litigation system has been criticized for being
inefficient, unfair, and costly to both patients, health
care providers and to health care system. No-fault system is
introduced as an alternative totort system and adopted by
many developed OECD countries. Although the system is more
efficient and less costly for providing compensation to
patients, it limits the patient’s right to appeal, and it
appears that there is a trade-off between deterrence and the
lower litigation costs. In order to overcome problems
associated with the tort litigation system, several methods
are suggested as an alternative current tort system in the
US. These methods are discussed briefly at the end of the
paper to provide information on different methods so that
the countries who are in a process of planning to set a
medical malpractice system could tailor some of suggested
methods to their needs. There is no perfect medical
malpractice system when the costs of litigation, deterrence,
quality of care, financing, and fairness of compensation are
considered simultaneously. Therefore, countries should adopt
medical malpractice system by tailoring their functions to
the conditions and the needs of the country. |
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