Law and the Healthcare System: Supporting Positive Change for Doctors and Patients
Led by Professor Nola Ries
The research
From 2018-2021, Professor Nola Ries led an Avant Foundation-funded project, Medico-Legal Drivers of Low Value Care. This project built on research Nola completed as a recipient of a 2015 Australian Research Fellowship in Health Services and Policy Research.
This research aimed to investigate defensive medical practice – such as ordering tests, treatments and procedures to reduce perceived liability risks – and its role in the overuse of healthcare that offers little or no benefit to patients.
The project involved in-depth interviews with senior medical leaders, clinicians and health care consumer representatives. The interviews explored how perceptions of the law and worries about legal risks impact on medical decision-making and doctor-patient relationships.
The research identified a need to strengthen doctors’ knowledge and skills, for example, to improve their understanding of the law, awareness of the risks of low value care and use of effective communication strategies with patients.
How the research supports positive change
This research supports positive change in medical practice.
The research culminated in the development of an online training course for health professionals, Medico-legal risks and low-value care. The course is designed to strengthen practitioners’ core legal knowledge, understand medico-legal risks and implement strategies to improve patient communication and decision-making. The course is freely available from NPS MedicineWise Learning and is CPD-accredited by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.
Visit the training course: Medico-legal risks and low-value care
To find out more
The research was featured in a segment on The Project in November 2021.
Access the following publications:
Nola M Ries, Briony Johnston & Jesse Jansen, ‘A qualitative interview study of Australian physicians on defensive practice and low value care: “it’s easier to talk about our fear of lawyers than to talk about our fear of looking bad in front of each other”’ (2022) 23(1) BMC Medical Ethics 16 (open access)
Nola M Ries, Briony Johnston & Jesse Jansen, ‘Views of healthcare consumer representatives on defensive practice: ‘We are your biggest advocate and supporter… not the enemy’ (2021) 25(1) Health Expectations 374 (open access)
Nola M Ries & Jesse Jansen, ‘Physicians’ views and experiences of defensive medicine: An international review of empirical research’ (2021) 125(5) Health Policy 634.
