[Mediation in public healthcare: opportunities for improvement]

Mediation in healthcare is a non-adversarial process to resolve a dispute risen between patients and health providers during medical attention Aim: To characterize the mediation process taking place in the public health system in Chile, from its start until 2017.

Cross-sectional descriptive study. Under the Transparency Law, information about mediation processes between 2005 and 2017 was requested to the State Defense Council (CDE in its Spanish acronym). This data was complemented with the information available on the website of this agency.

Ninety four percent of the complaints filed at the CDE were deemed eligible for mediation. Only 19% of the concluded cases led to an agreement between the disputing parties. The agreements reached were mostly monetary compensation, medical assistance, and apologies/explanation of the facts. The average amount of compensation reached $14,862,088 (Chilean pesos). The most commonly claimed damage resulting from medical care was partial disability. The medical specialties more often claimed were Obstetrics and Gynecology, General Surgery, and Internal Medicine.

The analysis of conducted mediations is a source of feedback for healthcare staff and health institutions. It would greatly contribute to prevent possible damage and medical conflicts, specially within the specialties with the most complaints. Improvements to the existing legislation are required to ensure free access for all the population.