Risk Management Guides for Medical Technology Assessors. Executive Summary and Final Report

摘要

The report describes the expanding role of professional standards and peer review activities in health care quality assessment initiatives. It also describes how quality assessment activities that involve professional and peer review are either building on, or are in conflict with, existing legal processes and public policy. The report's focus is on describing existing public policy and suggesting changes that may be needed to foster essential private sector technology assessment. Areas of law examined include licensure, hospital and professional liability (malpractice) law, and antitrust and insurance law. The author cited three trends: (1) consumers and their advocates are increasingly competing with health care professionals for greater influence in determining what constitutes acceptable quality of care; (2) health care professionals are competing with each other for greater influence in determining what constitutes acceptable patient care practices and outcomes; and (3) private sector professional groups and the courts are signalling Congress and State legislatures that they need more guidance about what private sector actions will promote 'quality of care' standard-setting, and what quality related discipline will be permitted.