The RWJ has a new blog which featured a series on health courts yesterday. The first entry gives the links to the remaining ones – Reforming Medical Justice

I have written about this issue many times. As I continue to consider this issue, I am struck by the ethics of our current system. A rational, impartial health court would improve protection to patients, physicians and the public. Let me explain.

Patients with “low yield” complaints have great difficulty making a formal complaint. Most malpractice lawyers only consider cases with the potential of a large pay day. Health courts would allow for lower pay day cases to be heard.

Physician would benefit by having an known set of standards. Health court decisions would be widely publicized, and influence practice. We assume that the decisions would have a consistent theme, and thus influence practice standards.

The public would benefit because health courts would set a standard for “flagging” repeat offenders. This system would make it easier to keep a registry of physicians found negligent. Repeat offenders would trigger a more complete investigation. This would greatly help State Medical Boards, giving them better data.

Now I sit back and wait for the predictable comments from my lawyer friends.