ECONOMICALLY EFFECTIVE HEALTH CARE AND MEDICAL MALPRACTICE

The aim of the study was to investigate the relevant economic models that determine the elements of the optimal professional standard of health care, which stand in the substrate of costeffective solutions, especially given the current state and trends in Croatia, as well as comparatively in the USA and Italy. In this sense, the economic effects of applying the civil liability institute due to the violation of the medical standard (medical error) were analyzed, and especially the financial aspect in its totality (cost of damages, medical prevention, total social cost), and the economic models were presented. The study showed that, according to different economic and financial categories, the results of the application of civil liability institutes in Croatia significantly deviate from the total economic effects achieved in the countries covered by this work, which is a result of the reduced frequency of litigation of disputed medical errors, as well as lower average compensation and correlative accessory costs, which in ultima linea leads to a comparatively lower total social cost. The research has shown that the fundamental instrument of economically effective health care in the field of compensation of medical errors lies in the practical implementation of the due diligence rules, that is, the compensation system. In this way, civil liability for medical error actually acts as a safeguard that, by its legal and economic consequences, per consequens shapes the health process by encouraging a potential pest (physician / health care institution) to provide health care in an optimal standard of care regime, bearing in mind that it is precisely the system of redress that equates the standard of medical treatment with the economic category of optimal patient care. Therefore, a cost-effective solution should be sought in the harmonious participation of a comprehensive set of systemic measures in health and compensation law, with the aim of reducing the overall social cost of damages due to a medical error while maintaining a general medical standard in the provision of health care.