Category: General
Wall Street Journal Law Blog Q & A with Philip K. Howard
On Monday, Ashby Jones of the Wall Street Journal Law Blog published part one of his interview with Philip K. Howard. The conversation focused primarily on Life Without Lawyers, which is now available in paperback, using the book as a starting place to discuss the finer points of Howard’s critiques, how they differ from those offered by proponents of traditional reform (such as tort reform), and what practical solutions he offers. Part Two should be forthcoming today.
[Wall Street Journal Law Blog]
February 09, 2010 | Comments (0) | Permalink
VIDEO: Philip K. Howard Delivers Opening Keynote at Georgetown CBPP Event
Below is a video excerpt from the December 4, 2009 event, “Unpacking Customer Satisfaction: The Role of Customer Complaints Across Industries and Agencies,” hosted by the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy, in which Philip K. Howard delivers the opening keynote address.
[Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy]
February 04, 2010 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Fulfilling the Promise: Panel One - What are the Most Promising Alternatives to Fix Healthcare?
Although the entire webcast is archived here, sections of the Common Good forum are now available for viewing. Here is panel one, for which Philip K. Howard was among the speakers:
December 22, 2009 | Comments (0) | Permalink
On December 11, 2009, Philip K. Howard sat down with NPR’s Robert Siegel to discuss medical liability reform as part of the Maxwell School/Public Agenda Policy Breakfast Series.
Watch the video below:
December 17, 2009 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Philip K. Howard Discusses School Discipline at EducationNext
“Strong leadership, respect for authority, and perception of fairness are essential to create a positive, productive school culture,” Philip K. Howard writes in a piece for EducationNext. “And yet the encroachment of due process into daily discipline decisions has undermined all three.” Citing a 2009 study by Richard Arum and Doreet Preiss showing “that the threat of litigation is a real presence in the lives of educators, one that casts a shadow over their decisions,” Howard suggests that educators “reverse course” by re-enforcing the role of teachers as leaders in the classroom, and by fostering a culture that will “encourage all members of the school community to participate in promoting the values and discipline protocols in schools.”
December 15, 2009 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Philip K. Howard in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Health Reform Galaxy Blog
In a posting at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Health Reform Galaxy blog,
Philip K. Howard discusses the value of health courts as a tool not just for reliable justice, but for improved care and cost containment as well. He speculates about the prospects of Congress passing any constructive medical liability reform, such as the Common Good- and Harvard School of Public Health-designed health court proposal. “The good news,” he writes, “is that, whatever happens in Congress with health courts, the Obama Administration has signaled that it wants to fund pilot projects for liability innovations.”
Referencing Common Good’s December 10th forum, “Fulfilling the Promise” – organized with the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – to aid the Administration’s efforts, Howard reminds us that, despite the trial bar’s opposition to reform, “patient safety experts, consumer groups, providers, as well as editorial boards and the public at large, all overwhelmingly support trying to create a reliable foundation of justice.” Howard concludes by paraphrasing Martin Hatlie, President of the Partnership for Patient Safety and a “Fulfilling the Promise” speaker: “the question is not whether healthcare justice will change, but when.”
December 15, 2009 | Comments (0) | Permalink
On Thursday, December 10th, Common Good, with the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will hold a forum titled “Fulfilling The Promise: Advancing Patient Safety and Medical Liability Reform Innovations” at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The forum is intended to educate “states, health care systems, and other interested entities and individuals…about patient safety and medical liability reform innovations, and how to develop viable proposals for submission to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality next January.” Philip K. Howard will be among the speakers, listed below:
- Dr. Lucian L. Leape, Chair, Lucian Leape Institute at the National Patient Safety Foundation
- Michelle Mello, Professor of Law and Public Health, Harvard School of Public Health
- Randall R. Bovbjerg, Senior Fellow, Health Policy Center, The Urban Institute
- Nancy Foster, Vice President for Quality and Patient Safety Policy, American Hospital Association
- Dr. Albert L. Strunk, Deputy Executive Vice President, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
- Elaine Brightwater, Senior Project Coordinator, Center for Development and Disability, University of New Mexico
- Richard C. Boothman, Chief Risk Officer, University of Michigan Health System
- E. Donald Elliott, Professor (adj) of Law, Yale Law School and Partner, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, Washington DC
- Gordon H. Smith, Executive Vice President, Maine Medical Association
- Dr. Alan C. Woodward, Former President, Massachusetts Medical Society
- Martin J. Hatlie, President, Partnership for Patient Safety
- David J. Oakley, Counsel, Healthcare, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
- Robert J. Walling, Principal and Consultant, Pinnacle Actuarial Resources, Inc.
- Philip K. Howard, Chair, Common Good
Questions the forum will address include:
- How can projects be designed to address both patient safety and medical liability?
- What are the best ways to include key stakeholders in projects?
- How can projects be measured and evaluated?
The forum will run from 8:00AM (including a continental breakfast at 8) until 2:00PM. To RSVP for the forum, e-mail your name and contact information to (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Space is limited, but the event will be webcast live, beginning at 8:30AM on December 10th, from the following site: http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=64481.
December 03, 2009 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Spokesman-Review calls Philip K. Howard's Medical Liability Reform Proposal a 'Better Solution'
In a Sunday opinion piece, the editorial board of the Spokesman-Review urges Democrats and Republicans to move past “counterproductive…partisan jabbing” in the health care reform debate. Taking tort reform as an example, the article notes that Democrats eschew the issue entirely because of their ties to trial lawyers, while Republicans rally for non-economic damage caps with the support of insurance companies. “If either side gets what it wants,” argues the Review, “costs in this area won’t be contained.” The problem with damage caps, as the $250,000 medical malpractice award cap in Texas illustrates, is that although they reduce malpractice premiums for physicians and reduce the number of malpractice cases taken to court, “health care costs continue to rise because the savings are not passed along to the public.” The Review sees health courts as a more attractive approach:
A better solution is the one promoted by Common Good’s Philip K. Howard. He calls for Congress to authorize special medical courts, where experts would adjudicate cases in a timely manner. A landmark Harvard study shows that only 3 percent of harmed patients ever file lawsuits. Medical courts could end this roulette wheel of justice by addressing complaints and establishing a culture where apologies for honest mistakes are not fodder for protracted litigation. Plus, such courts would remove defensive medicine as an excuse for unnecessary tests and procedures.
The article goes on to call health courts one of the “low-cost, high-yield solutions to medical inflation.” “If partisans could compromise on these and other issues,” it concludes, “it would be a total victory for the public.”
November 23, 2009 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Live Webcast of Philip K. Howard at the Legal Reform Summit in Washington, D.C.
Be sure to watch Philip K. Howard today at the 10th Annual Legal Reform Summit. In a session moderated by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Howard and Stanford Professor Daniel P. Kessler will discuss the correlation between lawsuits and rising cost of health care. The session is scheduled to begin at 2:00PM ET.
October 28, 2009 | Comments (0) | Permalink
The AP Reports a 'Boost' for Health Courts
In a release today, the Associated Press reports a “boost” for the health courts concept, thanks to President Obama’s “willingness to consider alternatives to medical malpractice lawsuits.” According to the article, proponents of health courts, and a similar proposal by the American Hospital Association, will have an opportunity to to “urge the administration to provide funds for a pilot program” at a Health and Human Services hearing next week. “Obama has set aside $25 million to test a range of alternatives to malpractice litigation, and the hearing is the first step in deciding how to distribute it.”
The article cites Philip K. Howard and Common Good as long time proponents of the health courts idea. As Howard explains in the article, “All patients would benefit from such a system because it would create an incentive for doctors to follow clinical best practice guidelines.” The article also quotes Howard in reference to doctor’s fears of being sued: “Defensive medicine is the result of distrust by doctors in situations where they are blamed when a sick person get sicker, but they didn’t do anything wrong.” The health courts concept is intended to alleviate this culture of fear and distrust while still providing fair compensation to injured patients.
October 21, 2009 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Fresh off the heels of Philip K. Howard’s recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, in which he outlines the bureaucracy and special interests that preclude any serious consideration of liability reform from Washington, columnist Stuart Taylor explains with this reform is necessary in the latest issue of the National Journal. In his column, “Wasting Billions, Doing Injustice,” Taylor endorses special health courts as the “most promising proposal” to reform the broken liability system, arguing that America’s current system is bad for patients and doctors (though good for trial lawyers), and that it contributes to the overall high cost of health care by encouraging doctors to practice defensive medicine:
By efficiently separating valid from invalid claims, health courts could award malpractice victims more-timely, more-certain compensation, with far lower legal and administrative costs. Health courts would also better protect blameless doctors and thus reduce defensive medicine.
October 05, 2009 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Philip K. Howard joins the conversation at NewTalk
NewTalk—Philip Howard’s weblog, created under the auspices of Common Good, that facilitates focused discussions among experts on a variety of pressing issues—has launched its 3-day collaboration with the Harvard Kennedy School of Government to present an online interim meeting of Harvard’s Executive Session on social entrepreneurship and innovation in America’s cities. The forum began yesterday at 9:00 AM ET, and ends tomorrow, September 25, at 3:00 PM. Howard has joined the conversation, and just added his first comment suggesting a set of solutions for the various obstacles to real innovation. Tune in to read the whole discussion.
[NewTalk]
September 24, 2009 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Philip K. Howard to be Featured Guest at Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse 15th Anniversary Event
On Tuesday, October 6, Philip K. Howard is the headlining guest at a 15th Anniversary event for Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) entitled “The State of Lawsuit Abuse,” and co-sponsored by Common Good. There will be a networking luncheon from 11:30 AM-1:30 PM PT at the Town & Country Hotel & Resort in San Diego, CA.
After the Luncheon, radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt will host a live discussion from 3-6 PM PT about, among things, lawsuit reform in health care. The show will be broadcast live from Coles Fine Flooring on Morena Boulevard. The public is welcome to be a part of the studio audience.
There will be a reception immediately following the show from 6-8 PM PT.
For more information, contact Lorie Zapf at 619-295-6059 or 619-384-8416, or via email at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Click here for a flyer of the event.
September 14, 2009 | Comments (0) | Permalink
New Poll Finds Overwhelming Support for Medical Liability Reform, Health Courts
A new nationwide poll commissioned jointly by Philip K. Howard’s nonprofit Common Good and the Committee for Economic Development, and conducted by Clarus Research Group, reveals vast public support for medical liability reform, as well as the prospects of creating a system of specialized health courts. The survey shows that 83% of American voters want Congress to address medical liability reform as part of any health care reform package, and 67% support the creation of health courts.
In his address to Congress last night, President Barack Obama proposed moving forward on a range of medical liability reform ideas that “put patient safety first and let doctors focus on practicing medicine.” Howard’s health courts proposal does exactly that.
“The American people want the system of medical justice to change,” Howard stated in a press release announcing the poll’s results. “They are saying it in very large numbers, and they want it to change as part of health care reform.”
Read the full press release — which includes endorsements from Senators Mike Enzi (R-NV) and Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), and former Senator Bill Bradley — and click the image below for a summary presentation of the poll’s findings (pdf).
September 10, 2009 | Comments (0) | Permalink
National Review Online: "Health Care Push Revives Tort Reform Debate"
In an article today from the National Review Online, Jason Plautz discusses the rising, sometimes hidden, costs of defensive medicine and the growing public support for malpractice reform. Among the “proposed fixes” Plautz highlights is Philip K. Howard’s health courts:
“[A] larger proposed solution is establishing medical courts, or a specialized system modeled after bankruptcy and tax courts. Opponents, including the AAJ, say new courts would mean too much bureaucracy and money spent on an issue that doesn’t merit it, especially since few malpractice claims end up in court. But Philip K. Howard, chairman of the nonprofit legal reform organization Common Good, said a medical court system would help streamline malpractice suits.
‘It would be designed for speed, with judges making written rulings based on standard of care,’ Howard said. ‘It would build up written law and set standards. Right now, it’s just done on a thumbs-up or thumbs-down from a jury.’
The article also highlights a recent New York Times op-ed by former Sen. and NBA player Bill Bradley (D-NJ) — a Common Good Advisory Board Member — wherein Bradley argues that tort reform could be the key to a bipartisan health care bill. Bradley’s article also briefly mentions health courts as a viable form of tort reform.
September 01, 2009 | Comments (1) | Permalink
