Using mediation to resolve disputes among hospitals and physicians.

The wide variety of economic cooperative arrangements in which hospitals and physicians engage can lead to disputes. As methods of dispute resolution, litigation and arbitration are costly and time-consuming and can have long-lasting adverse effects on relationships between the disputing parties. An alternative method of dispute resolution is mediation, the process of voluntarily negotiating a settlement with the help of a mediator. Mediation generally is quicker, less costly, and less likely to be adversarial than litigation or arbitration. In addition, mediation offers privacy regarding the nature of the dispute, thus preserving valuable reputations.