Mediation Template for Resolving Medical Disputes

Abstract

Disputes do arise from mutual relationship and there are ways of resolving them traditionally and by legal means. Litigation is the principal means of legal means but over time there developed means of alternative resolution of disputes although one is not aware that there had been traditional means of dispute settlement from time immemorial. One of the ways disputes arise is through interface with medical personnel known as medical disputes. Due to the nature and scope of medical disputes, it has become increasingly clear that the typical means of resolving disputes will no longer suffice, the bare minimum has become unacceptable. This has caused many to look for a better means of solving this problem, hence the rise in the use of mediation as a medium for resolving medical disputes. This article discusses mediation as a process of voluntarily submitting a dispute to a neutral third party, who facilitates communication and negotiations between the disputing parties. This article takes into cognizance the fact that because of its confidential and non-adversarial nature, mediation suits the resolution of medical disputes very well, discussing how and when it may be applied, especially when compared with the other forms of dispute resolution methods. It goes further to show that mediation not only serves a purpose for the resolution of private medical disputes – disputes arising between health care workers and patients, it also serves well in the resolution of public medical disputes – medical trade disputes. The article finds that Mediation templates are most suitable for medical disputes; that the disputes could be private or public and that in comparative terms Mediation is mostly deployed to resolve medical disputes in overseas countries. The article concludes that Mediation is more effective in resolving medical disputes if its processes are properly harnessed and applied.