Team to develop ‘safe harbor’ standards of care
A team of researchers from Vanderbilt Health and Vanderbilt University’s schools of Law, Medicine and Management has received a five-year $1.7 million research grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality of the Department of Health and Human Services to develop and test “safe-harbor” standards of care based on scientific evidence.
A goal of the project is to reduce the number of unnecessary medical procedures performed primarily to reduce legal liability, a practice known as defensive medicine. Benefits could include lower costs and improved quality of care, resulting from medical patients’ reduced exposure to radiation.