Alternatives to litigation for health care conflicts and claims: alternative dispute resolution in medicine.

Health care has undergone radical changes, and it may be predicted that further changes are in the offing as the burdens and the benefits of the newer configurations become known. Change in any system stresses it, creating opportunities for conflict as people and organizations adjust to new realities and encounter changed expectations. The opportunities for conflict in health care (and legal conflict with it), therefore, have been and will continue to be a measurable part of health care's daily life. Many of these conflicts can be managed through one or another of the several forms of ADR. Some ADR procedures are most productive when used as alternatives to impending litigation. Others may be employed when litigation is not likely but when the persistence of conflict, such as that within a newly structured provider organization, would otherwise take its toll on the productivity of the organization and those who work within it. The challenge in using ADR for any of these problems is similar to what physicians understand as differential diagnosis. A good therapy applied to the wrong case yields a bad result. The world of ADR has matured to the point at which the salient features of both cases and procedures are well-enough understood to allow for low-risk and high-benefit applications. This is particularly true for disputes involving allegations of medical error, where the indicators of efficacy are very positive and the risks to safety are comfortably low. Mediation in particular, but mediation of the interest-based style rather than the settlement conference style, deserves fuller consideration and broader use.