Jennifer Roe | Senior Recruiting Consultant
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Congressional health care negotiators are considering proposals to foster alternatives to medical malpractice lawsuits.  Senators on the Finance Committee are looking at the possibility of special courts in which a judge with medical expertise would hear malpractice cases.  The theory is that medical judges wouldn't be as easily swayed by emotion as are lay juries. Other possibilities include the option of arbitration, as well as some liability protection for doctors who follow "best practice" clinical standards in treating their patients.
 
Many economists are skeptical that malpractice insurance premiums paid by doctors are major reasons for soaring health care costs.  But the issue looms large politically because many conservatives in both parties are convinced that doctors routinely order up tests their patients don't need because they're afraid of getting sued.
 
President Obama said that while he doesn't see malpractice changes as a "silver bullet," he's talked to enough doctors to suspect that fear of litigation contributes to unnecessary costs. He's directing the Health and Human Services Department to provide funding for pilot programs to test some alternatives to litigation.

[ Health Negotiators Look at Malpractice Changes - ABCnews.com ]