Mediation in health care: a collaborative journey

In health care, the patient is the recipient of a service, another person provides that service, a third party attempts to standardize and regulate the service, and a fourth party creates invoices and expects a fifth party to pay for the service. One misstep in this game of dominoes and the ripple effect can cause adversity and conflict. In these situations there often is no wrong or right, only perceptions of situations, with perceived meanings and motives. Individuals' emotions and vision are often clouded in this web of perceptions, and mean-spirited words may be exchanged. Once individuals have acted irrationally, they feel compelled to justify their actions, hence the escalation of conflict, each party vilifying the other and painting them as the enemy. These types of conflict abound in health care, consuming time, energy, and money. They divert attention from heath care's main focus-the patient-and affect everyone's ability to make wise and level-headed decisions.