Consumer Medical Complaint Behavior: Determinants of and Alternatives to Malpractice Litigation

Abstract

Medical malpractice is a major societal, consumer, and public policy issue with wide ranging and significant litigation and cost dimensions. One approach to analyzing the medical malpractice problem is to investigate it from the perspective of consumer dissatisfaction or complaint behavior. Within this basic framework, the current research explores consumer determinants of potential malpractice litigation and alternative or modified courses of action to traditional suing behaviors.