In our last post, we looked briefly at a federal program known as CANDOR which aims to help federally funded hospitals adopt dispute resolution programs which increase hospital and provider transparency in dealing with patients. The program is being promoted
As beneficial as the program and similar approaches may be to patients, open communication and transparency is all too often lacking for patients attempting to secure answers about failed medical or surgical care. The first step, whenever a patient has questions or confusion about their situation, of course, is to communicate with their doctor, the medical staff, and the hospital. When this proves unproductive, it is time to talk to an experienced medical malpractice attorney.
Getting a medical malpractice attorney involved doesn’t necessarily mean a medical malpractice case will be filed and pursued. The case must, first of all, be meritorious, meaning that there must be a valid claim to medical malpractice that can be demonstrated by the evidence, after such evidence is obtained in the initial stages of the legal process.
Second of all, though, the case must be worth pursuing. By this is meant that it must make financial sense to pursue medical malpractice litigation. In some cases, the costs of litigation simply do not justify the potential payoff. In other cases, it may be a close call. In cases where it is possible to settle a case, the settlement offer must be weighed against the potential additional benefit of litigation and the patient’s goals. In any case, an experienced medical malpractice attorney will be able to provide the guidance necessary to seek the best possible resolution of a case.