Health Care OverUse Reform Today Act (HealthCOURT Act) of 2011 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide for the selection and issuance of best practice guidelines for treatment of medical conditions.
Requires the Secretary to contract with a qualified physician consensus-building organization to develop guidelines and issue a rule that provides for the establishment of such guidelines. Prohibits the Secretary from making a rule that includes guidelines other than those submitted by such organization.
Requires the Secretary to routinely review guidelines and, as necessary, enter into additional contracts to issue guidelines.
Prohibits a court from awarding noneconomic damages or punitive damages in any health care lawsuit with respect to treatment that is consistent with a guideline issued under this Act.
Prohibits guidelines from being introduced as evidence of negligence or deviation in the standard of care in any health care lawsuit unless such guidelines have previously been introduced by the defendant.
Declares that there shall be no presumption of negligence if a health care provider provides treatment in a manner inconsistent with such guidelines.
Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary to award grants to states for the development, implementation, and evaluation of administrative health care tribunals for the resolution of disputes concerning injuries allegedly caused by health care providers. Sets forth provisions governing the operation of such tribunals, including requiring a review of allegations by an expert panel to assess liability.
Take Action
Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.