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1 – 10 of over 4000The coming use of autonomous vehicles has kindled an extensive debate over the choice of a desirable liability regime. This article contributes to that debate by explaining how…
Abstract
Purpose
The coming use of autonomous vehicles has kindled an extensive debate over the choice of a desirable liability regime. This article contributes to that debate by explaining how rules for liability and damages ought to be constructed to deal first with stranger (including highway) cases and then with consensual cases (like medical malpractice). It concludes that an output regime based on events as they unfold is applicable in the former but not in the latter. It then argues that this legal regime carries over without a hitch to autonomous vehicles. It then further notes that in private disputes there are no fixed rules for deciding how to mix rules for injunctions and liabilities for threatened harms, and further notes that the regulatory regime for IoT will face those same difficulties, which are best solved by trying to minimize the sum of Type I and Type II errors, as in other cases.
Design/methodology/approach
Legal reasoning/analysis.
Findings
One salient point is that the rules of the road should change in response to technical innovation, but liability rules should not. The sound approach for dealing with damages for past incidents ought to be constructed to deal first with stranger (including highway) cases in which there is a dichotomous decision on compliance or not. That regime is based on events as they unfold, and carries over without a hitch to autonomous vehicles. For dealing with the prevention of future harms from violation of these rules, by contrast, there are no fixed rules for deciding how to mix damages with injunction, and the substitution of a system of direct state enforcement faces the same difficulties of implementation. In both settings, the rules of the road should be held constant, after which the ideal remedial mix follows the traditional approach of trying to minimize the sum of Type I and Type II errors, relating to over and underenforcement. The basic rules of tort liability stand in contrast to the different standards of liability that arise in consensual situations, and in all cases, they must necessarily be supplemented by rules of vicarious and product liability. Overall, the bottom line is this: autonomous vehicle innovations are relevant to designing regulations for future and uncertain harms, but irrelevant to liability for past harms.
Originality/value
This is an original legal analysis on the topic of Autonomous Vehicles.
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Lamar Odom, Anthony Garcia and Pamela Milburn
To explore from an ethical paradigm the current research in support of and opposition to imposing caps on non‐economic damages as a means of addressing the healthcare crisis.
Abstract
Purpose
To explore from an ethical paradigm the current research in support of and opposition to imposing caps on non‐economic damages as a means of addressing the healthcare crisis.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of peer‐ and non‐peer‐reviewed articles primarily covering the period from 2001‐2004, which addresses the rationale articulated in support of and in opposition to imposing caps on non‐economic damages. The articles are sorted into sections and critiqued: rationale for imposing caps, arguments against caps, ethical paradigms impacting caps, and conclusions.
Findings
Provides information from the various sources. Addresses the biases that may have shaped the authors' conclusions and some of the ethical paradigms that may have impacted positions. Also demonstrates that the unbiased research seems to establish a minimal nexus between caps and the proposed impact.
Research limitations/implications
Focus is exclusively on the US healthcare and judicial system. However, findings may still have implications outside the USA in countries that have similar tort laws for addressing private wrongs.
Practical implications
A useful source of information for graduate students in public policy or healthcare management courses, or legislators looking for a quick reference to research regarding this topic area.
Originality/value
This paper fulfills an identified resource for non‐biased assessment of the problem presented and provides a critical review of the reasons articulated in support of this public policy.
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Anita Medhekar, Ho Yin Wong and John Edward Hall
The purpose of this paper is to explore the demand-side factors that influence the inbound medical tourists’ (MTs) decision to travel abroad for medical treatment/surgery.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the demand-side factors that influence the inbound medical tourists’ (MTs) decision to travel abroad for medical treatment/surgery.
Design/methodology/approach
The researchers conducted thematic analysis of in-depth interviews in India with 24 foreign MTs’ to generate the themes, identify factors and propose a model with hypothesis for future quantitative survey.
Findings
The findings conclude that patients ranked in ascending order less waiting time for surgery, healthcare quality and accreditation, staff/surgeons expertise, healthcare information, hospital facilities and services, patient safety, travel risk, surgical costs and holiday opportunity as important factors that influence the decision to travel abroad for medical treatment/surgery.
Research limitations/implications
Foreign patients from six private hospitals were willing to be interviewed with the permission of the hospital. Due to confidentiality and privacy policy, many hospitals declined interviews with foreign patients.
Practical implications
The findings are generalised in case of foreign patients as MTs and all private hospitals treating foreign patients in India and other global healthcare destinations. Policy implications suggest that private hospitals in developing countries need to provide first-class quality of healthcare as foreign patients look for internationally accredited quality, no waiting time, patient safety, qualified and experienced surgeons, healthcare workers education and experience hospital facilities and post-surgery care with positive healthcare outcomes.
Originality/value
There is little empirical research on the views of inbound MTs, about factors influencing their decision to travel abroad for surgery to India.
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J. David Cummins and Xiaoying Xie
The purpose of this paper is to determine the market‐value relevance of frontier efficiency scores and to test hypotheses from corporate control and production theory by analyzing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine the market‐value relevance of frontier efficiency scores and to test hypotheses from corporate control and production theory by analyzing the market response to US property–liability (P–L) insurer acquisitions and divestitures.
Design/methodology/approach
Cost and revenue efficiencies are estimated based on accounting data for US P–L insurers using data envelopment analysis. The market‐value response to acquisitions and divestitures is estimated using a standard market model event study. Regression analysis is used to measure the relationship between abnormal returns (dependent variable) and efficiency (independent variable), along with a set of control variables.
Findings
The results show that acquirers, targets and divesting firms all have significant positive abnormal returns around announcement dates. We also find that efficient acquirers and targets have higher cumulative abnormal returns (CAR) but inefficient divesting firms have higher CARs.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are consistent with insurance acquisitions and divestitures being driven primarily by value‐maximizing motivations, consistent with corporate control and production theory.
Practical implications
Frontier efficiency scores based on accounting data provide value‐relevant information for insurance managers.
Originality/value
This is one of only a few papers that relate frontier efficiency to market values and is the first paper to do this for the insurance industry. It is also one of only two existing papers that analyze the value relevance of efficiency scores in the context of mergers and acquisitions.
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James Malm and Nilesh Sah
The purpose of this paper is to understand the association between litigation risk and working capital management.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the association between litigation risk and working capital management.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors employ four different regression techniques (OLS regressions, regressions with industry and time controls, median regressions, and Fama Macbeth regressions) to study the relation between litigation risk (contemporaneous and lagged measures) and working capital management (cash conversion cycle (CCC) and its components). The authors also conduct numerous robustness tests.
Findings
The authors find that high-litigation risk firms tend to have longer CCC. Decomposing CCC into days receivable outstanding, days inventory outstanding and days payable outstanding, the authors find that high-litigation risk firms have longer receivable periods, take a longer time to convert inventory to cash and do not pay their suppliers promptly. These results are robust to a series of robustness tests including using an alternate measure of working capital and accounting for firm type (high-tech vs labor intensive).
Originality/value
This paper contributes in several ways to the litigation and corporate finance literature. The authors identify another determinant of working capital management and document another avenue whereby legal institutions affect short-term financial decision making. The link between litigation risk and working capital management is of interest to the business community, financial economists, management and the investing public.
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The purpose of this paper is to discuss the current state-of-the-art in additive manufacturing, more commonly known as 3D printing, from the business perspectives. The primary…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the current state-of-the-art in additive manufacturing, more commonly known as 3D printing, from the business perspectives. The primary drivers behind the development of the associated technologies are considered along with features that limit growth.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach is a personal perspective, based on approximately 25-years study of the development of the associated technologies and applications.
Findings
The discussion has found that the technology is still growing healthily, but with an understanding that there are numerous application areas that should be considered separately. Some areas are significantly more mature than others and success in some areas does not guarantee success in others.
Originality/value
This viewpoint has been prepared for the current state-of-the-art and can be compared with earlier viewpoints to see how things may have changed in the past. This should be of value to those interested to explore how the technology has developed in recent times and how it may move into the future.
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Sreenivas R. Sukumar, Ramachandran Natarajan and Regina K. Ferrell
The current trend in Big Data analytics and in particular health information technology is toward building sophisticated models, methods and tools for business, operational and…
Abstract
Purpose
The current trend in Big Data analytics and in particular health information technology is toward building sophisticated models, methods and tools for business, operational and clinical intelligence. However, the critical issue of data quality required for these models is not getting the attention it deserves. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the issues of data quality in the context of Big Data health care analytics.
Design/methodology/approach
The insights presented in this paper are the results of analytics work that was done in different organizations on a variety of health data sets. The data sets include Medicare and Medicaid claims, provider enrollment data sets from both public and private sources, electronic health records from regional health centers accessed through partnerships with health care claims processing entities under health privacy protected guidelines.
Findings
Assessment of data quality in health care has to consider: first, the entire lifecycle of health data; second, problems arising from errors and inaccuracies in the data itself; third, the source(s) and the pedigree of the data; and fourth, how the underlying purpose of data collection impact the analytic processing and knowledge expected to be derived. Automation in the form of data handling, storage, entry and processing technologies is to be viewed as a double-edged sword. At one level, automation can be a good solution, while at another level it can create a different set of data quality issues. Implementation of health care analytics with Big Data is enabled by a road map that addresses the organizational and technological aspects of data quality assurance.
Practical implications
The value derived from the use of analytics should be the primary determinant of data quality. Based on this premise, health care enterprises embracing Big Data should have a road map for a systematic approach to data quality. Health care data quality problems can be so very specific that organizations might have to build their own custom software or data quality rule engines.
Originality/value
Today, data quality issues are diagnosed and addressed in a piece-meal fashion. The authors recommend a data lifecycle approach and provide a road map, that is more appropriate with the dimensions of Big Data and fits different stages in the analytical workflow.
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Diana M.R. Tribe and Gill Korgaonkar
This, the first of three papers, provides an overview of the law of negligence as it affects medical practitioners in the UK. The standard of care owed by doctors to patients is…
Abstract
This, the first of three papers, provides an overview of the law of negligence as it affects medical practitioners in the UK. The standard of care owed by doctors to patients is considered in the light of recent increases in malpractice claims, the escalating cost of medical insurance and current Government proposals for Crown indemnity.
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Morey Kolber and Ann M. Lucado
This article aims to highlight the importance of a complete and accurate medical record as it pertains to potential risk exposure in the outpatient physical therapy profession.
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to highlight the importance of a complete and accurate medical record as it pertains to potential risk exposure in the outpatient physical therapy profession.
Design/methodology/approach
Basic charting rules, correction and alteration recommendations, documentation of telephone conversations, informed consent, exculpatory release forms and incident reports are discussed. Basic risk management strategies are reviewed that may reduce outpatient physical therapy practitioners' malpractice exposure.
Findings
The authors contend that quality and thorough documentation is as important as the quality of the care that is delivered to patients, since medical records are legal documents and serve as valuable evidence as to what transpired between patients and the healthcare providers.
Originality/value
Practical documentation strategies are described in a manner that will inform physical therapists of their legal obligations relating to patient care.
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Hulda G. Black, Emily A. Goad and Jill S. Attaway
The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship among jurors’ attribution of responsibility of the error, patient styles and juror decisions (e.g. acquittal of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship among jurors’ attribution of responsibility of the error, patient styles and juror decisions (e.g. acquittal of the physician). Specifically, this research examines the influence of an individual’s approach to their healthcare (active vs. passive), and decisions to acquit in malpractice cases.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 459 individuals were surveyed using a commercial call center for participation in a corresponding mail survey. Surveys were also distributed to undergraduate business students at a Midwestern university.
Findings
Cluster analysis revealed two categories of patient styles: “active patients” (39.4 per cent) and “passive patients” (60.6 per cent). Regardless of patient style, this research found all respondents viewed medical error disclosure as important. However, respondents in the passive group were more likely to acquit the physician and the hospital nursing staff as compared with those classified as active.
Practical implications
The safety of patients in the healthcare system and prevention of errors is a critical issue. However, when errors occur, medical providers should disclose information to the patient and take responsibility to attenuate their negative impact. Further, this research reveals that patients who rely more on their physicians, trust their recommendations and question physicians less are more likely to acquit. Medical providers can use this information as motivation to continue to build this type of trust with their patients.
Originality/value
Medical errors are costly for all parties involved. This research provides insight for not only members of the legal profession involved in medical malpractice cases, but also risk managers and hospital administrators and healthcare providers regarding the decision-making process used by individuals serving on a jury.
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