Promoting a Medical Malpractice Early Settlement Model

Grantee Name

The Greater New York Hospital Association Foundation

Funding Area

Expanding Health Care Coverage

Publication Date

June 2014

Grant Amount

$24,200

Grant Date:

January 2010 – July 2010

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The existing medical liability litigation system increases the cost of providing effective, quality health care in New York State and the nation.

An innovative, but lesser-known, model for addressing medical malpractice litigation has been developed by the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC). Through the program, Active Case Conferencing, a judge is assigned to monitor HHC cases and sets aside one day a month for a conference that includes the plaintiff lawyers and HHC counsel. As a result, claims are settled much faster than in the traditional litigation system and at lower costs.

To increase awareness and usage of the model, NYHealth awarded the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) Foundation a grant to convene a full-day conference, “Strategies for Early Resolution of Medical Malpractice Claims: Active Case Conferencing,” to educate and train its members and other large hospital systems in New York on the Active Case Conferencing model.

Outcomes and Lessons Learned

Convened a conference with nearly 100 representatives from regional hospitals, hospital and physician medical malpractice insurers, and other stakeholders. The first half of the conference provided an overview of the model; its components; and barriers and challenges to implementation, while the second half featured a mock case that included an interactive debate and settlement discussion;
Increased interest in the model among organizations, including hospitals within the State University of New York system, Westchester Medical Center, and Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center; and
Used the conference as a foundation to build on in its medical malpractice education programs.

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