“Defensive medicine’’ has long been considered one of the drivers of high health care costs.

The term refers to doctors making some medical decisions primarily to safeguard themselves against possible malpractice liability. Thus a test might be done that has little benefit to the patient, because the doctor fears being sued for not taking every possible measure.

In a new GHN Commentary, Richard L. Jackson of Patients for Fair Compensation argues that a new legal framework for malpractice claims could save billions of dollars.  Patients would file claims that would be reviewed by a panel of experts under what he calls a Patients Compensation System.

“Doctors would know they wouldn’t be hauled into court for frivolous reasons,’’ Jackson writes.

Here’s a link to Jackson’s Commentary.

Georgia Health News welcomes Commentary submissions. If you would like to propose a Commentary piece for Georgia Health News, please e-mail Andy Miller, editor of GHN, at amiller@georgiahealthnews.com