Health Mediation and its principles

Mediation, in the circumstances we are currently experiencing, of a health crisis, is revealed as a good tool to manage conflicts in the field of health. 

Health Mediation is an alternative conflict resolution system in which an impartial third party without decision-making power, called a mediator, helps the parties to seek a solution to the conflict themselves through agreements that are satisfactory to the interests and needs of the parties.

It is an effective and beneficial system for conflict resolution both for the relationships of health personnel and the relationships between users of the system and the professionals themselves.

It is necessary to develop actions for its prevention and at the same time have tools to resolve any conflicts that arise, so that the problem is addressed at an early stage, at a time when mediation is still feasible and the situation can be reversed and situations such as possible controversies that occur between healthcare personnel and the patient, between the professionals themselves or between them and the Health Administration and companies in which they provide their services.

The malpractice lawsuits that are generated in our country increase, we can say considerably, so we should consider the possibility of solve them avoiding judicialization.

Principles of Health Mediation

Health mediation must ensure that the following principles are respected:

• The willfulness, we refer to the freedom that the parties have to begin and withdraw at any time from the mediation or to reach an agreement at any time during the process.
• The equality, the mediator must ensure that the parties are on equal terms to be able to reach agreements.
• Speed principleWhile a judicial process can take a long time, mediation has this advantage.
• Confidentiality, guarantee the importance of privacy and protect process information.
• Impartiality, the mediator at all times is an impartial and neutral person, his primary function will be to facilitate communication through a pleasant atmosphere and encourage listening between the parties, using his social skills.
• Probity, the mediator's conduct must be honest and loyal.

To carry out a mediation in health matters, it is essential that the mediator has a specific training in the healthcare field, in this way it allows you to know the context where the conflict originated and that the solutions proposed by the parties have a effective execution.