Institute:Office of National Coordinator (ONC) Workforce Training Curriculum
Component:Introduction to Health Care and Public Health in the U.S.
Unit:Regulating Health Care
Lecture:Legal Aspects of Medicine
Slide content:Tort Law Reform - 1 Pre-trial screening panels Reviews case at early stage and gives opinion about merit Certificate of merit From qualified medical expert in order to file a lawsuit Attorney fee limits Limits on percentage and/or total amount 17
Slide notes:In response to criticism of the current system of malpractice, many kinds of reforms have been explored by individual states. A recent report to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission evaluated the most common tort reform laws. For example, some states require a pretrial screening panel to review the evidence in a case at an early stage and give an opinion about whether the lawsuit is justified. Before a patient can file a medical malpractice claim in court, a qualified medical expert must document that a valid claim seems to exist, and the patient must present this document, called a certificate of merit. Attorney-fee limits restrict the amount an attorney can be paid for representing a patient in a malpractice suit. The state might limit the dollar amount the attorney can charge, the attorneys percentage of the total award, or both. 17