| Abstrakt: |
The literature on medical malpractice has two significant weaknesses: (1) it focuses too narrowly only on the malpractice lawsuit as the measure of patient/doctor conflict, and (2) it is virtually exclusive of patients points of view about the problems. The author suggests a reconceptualization of conflict between patients and doctors and presents an alternative theoretical model. Using this alternative model he designed a study of patient doctor conflict in which data were gathered from patients dissatisfied with their care. Analyses of these data show: (1) the types of complaints patients perceive (which differ in emphasis from the existing literature) and, (2) a variety of forms of resolution used by patients, including, but not restricted to, consulting a lawyer. Finally, types of complaints are correlated with types of resolutions patients choose, indicating some distinctive relationships between types of problems and preferred resolutions. Several conclusions are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
