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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Main Author: World Bank
Format: Report
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2017
Subjects:
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
id okr-10986-26120
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-261202021-04-23T14:04:33Z Medical Malpractice Systems Around the Globe : Examples from the US-Tort Liability System and the Sweden-No Fault System World Bank medical malpractice litigation cost social insurance deterrence quality of care compensation patient rights compensable injury liability premiums health care costs 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. 2017-02-22T17:04:46Z 2017-02-22T17:04:46Z 2013 Report 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 English en_US CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Economic & Sector Work :: Other Health Study Economic & Sector Work Europe and Central Asia
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
en_US
topic medical malpractice
litigation cost
social insurance
deterrence
quality of care
compensation
patient rights
compensable injury
liability premiums
health care costs
spellingShingle medical malpractice
litigation cost
social insurance
deterrence
quality of care
compensation
patient rights
compensable injury
liability premiums
health care costs
World Bank
Medical Malpractice Systems Around the Globe : Examples from the US-Tort Liability System and the Sweden-No Fault System
geographic_facet Europe and Central Asia
description 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.
format Report
author World Bank
author_facet World Bank
author_sort World Bank
title Medical Malpractice Systems Around the Globe : Examples from the US-Tort Liability System and the Sweden-No Fault System
title_short Medical Malpractice Systems Around the Globe : Examples from the US-Tort Liability System and the Sweden-No Fault System
title_full Medical Malpractice Systems Around the Globe : Examples from the US-Tort Liability System and the Sweden-No Fault System
title_fullStr Medical Malpractice Systems Around the Globe : Examples from the US-Tort Liability System and the Sweden-No Fault System
title_full_unstemmed Medical Malpractice Systems Around the Globe : Examples from the US-Tort Liability System and the Sweden-No Fault System
title_sort medical malpractice systems around the globe : examples from the us-tort liability system and the sweden-no fault system
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2017
url 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
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