Advocating Enterprise Liability for Medical Malpractice Reform

Enterprise liability, an assumption of medicolegal responsibility borne by health care institutions, shields the individual practitioner from malpractice liability emanating from systemic failures inherent in the delivery of healthcare. This model permits expedited and thorough analysis of the efficacy and quality of health care delivery due to the institution's access to potential failures and weaknesses in the business of health management. The alleviation of responsibility from the individual provider prevents provider burn-out, attrition and loss of privileges leading to loss of continuity and quality of patient care while focusing on systemic corrections to prevent poor outcomes. While government health organizations have adopted this model of risk management, as exemplified in local, state and federal medical care delivery models of hospital and correctional care, private entities continue to delegate some portion of liability to the individual provider even when institutional systems of care delivery are to blame for errors. Universally adopting an enterprise liability system throughout our health care infrastructure would alleviate provider shortages, reduce provider attrition, save legal and other administrative costs and provide for a better data infrastructure for thorough analyses of faulty systems and delivery methods to improve overall quality of care. A literature review of the advantages and limitations of enterprise liability applications in medicine is conducted to explore potential options to improve healthcare delivery and address barriers to transparency and improvements in care. The findings of this review highlight a potential for improved communication and correction of healthcare delivery barriers with the alleviation of individual provider liability for system institutional errors that can benefit performance improvement, reduce systemic flaw and contribute to malpractice reform.