We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
DIRECT HOSPITAL LIABILITY AS A LEGAL PATH TO IMPROVED PATIENT SAFETY?
- Authors
DICKINSON, JULIE
- Abstract
Tort liability is designed to economically incentivize safer behavior by compelling the tortfeasor to pay money to a person injured by the tortfeasor's conduct. In medical malpractice cases, this safer conduct should, in turn, improve patient safety and reduce adverse events. Most medical errors are the result of faulty systems and processes that are outside the control of individual clinicians working within those systems. Yet, the historical approach of holding hospitals only vicariously liable focuses solely on the individual clinicians' actions and does not hold hospitals accountable for their failure to fix the defective system and processes. Hospitals have a nondelegable duty to develop, adopt, and enforce adequate and appropriate processes, procedures, rules, and policies to ensure the delivery of quality care to their patients. Would holding hospitals directly liable for system failures motivate them financially and reputationally to improve their systems, thereby having the greatest effect on reducing patient harm?
- Subjects
TORTS; PATIENT safety; MEDICAL errors; MEDICAL malpractice; ADVERSE health care events
- Publication
Journal of Health Care Law & Policy, 2024, Vol 27, Issue 2, p279
- ISSN
1097-4768
- Publication type
Article