655.455
655.455
Notice to health care providers and fund. The director of state courts shall serve notice of a request for mediation upon all health care providers named in the request, at the respective addresses provided in the request, and upon the fund, by registered mail within 7 days after the director of state courts receives the request if delivered in person or within 10 days after the date of mailing of the request to the director of state courts if sent by registered mail.
655.455 History
History: 1985 a. 340;
1989 a. 187 s.
28;
2001 a. 65.
655.465
655.465
Mediation panels; mediation period. 655.465(1)(1)
Mediation panel for dispute. The director of state courts shall appoint the members of a mediation panel under sub.
(2) and send notice to the claimant and all respondents by registered mail. The notice shall inform the claimant and all respondents of the names of the persons appointed to the mediation panel and the date, time and place of the mediation session. The director of state courts may change the date, time or place of the mediation session as necessary to accommodate the parties, subject to the requirement that the mediation session be held before the expiration of the mediation period under sub.
(7).
655.465(2)
(2)
Appointment of mediators. Each mediation panel shall consist of the following members appointed by the director of state courts:
655.465(2)(a)
(a) One public member who is neither an attorney nor a health care provider and who is selected from a list of public member mediators prepared every 2 years, or more frequently upon request of the director of state courts, by the governor or, if any person resigns or is unable to serve as a public member mediator, from a list of alternates prepared by the director of state courts.
655.465(2)(b)
(b) One attorney who is licensed to practice law in this state.
655.465(2)(c)1.
1. Except as provided in subds.
4. and
5., if all respondents named in the request for mediation are physicians, a physician who is licensed to practice in this state and who is selected from a list prepared by a statewide organization of physicians designated by the director of state courts.
655.465(2)(c)2.
2. Except as provided in subds.
4. and
5., if none of the respondents named in the request for mediation is a physician, a health care provider who is licensed to practice in this state in the same health care field as the respondent and who is selected from a list prepared by the department or the examining board or affiliated credentialing board that regulates health care providers in that health care field.
655.465(2)(c)3.
3. Except as provided in subds.
4. and
5., if more than one respondent is named in the request for mediation at least one of whom is a physician and at least one of whom is not, a health care provider who is licensed to practice in this state and who is selected from the list under subd.
1. or
2., as determined by the director of state courts.
655.465(2)(c)4.
4. If the director of state courts determines that a list under subd.
1. or
2. is inadequate to permit the selection of an appropriate health care provider, a health care provider who is licensed to practice in this state and who is selected from an additional list prepared by the director of state courts.
655.465(2)(c)5.
5. If the director of state courts determines that lists under subds.
1. or
2. and
4. are inadequate to permit the selection of an appropriate health care provider for a particular dispute, a health care provider who is licensed to practice in this state and who is selected by the director of state courts.
655.465(3)
(3)
Filling vacancies. If a person appointed to a mediation panel under sub.
(1) resigns from or is unable to serve on the mediation panel, the director of state courts shall appoint a replacement selected in the same manner as the predecessor appointee.
655.465(4)
(4)
Conflict of interest. No person may serve on a mediation panel if the person has a professional or personal interest in the dispute.
655.465(5)
(5)
Compensation. Each mediator shall be compensated $150 plus actual and necessary expenses for each day of mediation conducted. Compensation and expenses shall be paid out of the appropriation under s.
20.680 (2) (qm) upon such authorizations as the director of state courts may prescribe.
655.465(6)
(6)
Immunity and presumption of good faith. 655.465(6)(a)
(a) A mediator is immune from civil liability for any good faith act or omission within the scope of the mediator's performance of his or her powers and duties under this subchapter.
655.465(6)(b)
(b) It is presumed that every act or omission under par.
(a) is a good faith act or omission. This presumption may be overcome only by clear and convincing evidence.
655.465(7)
(7)
Mediation period. The period for mediation shall expire 90 days after the director of state courts receives a request for mediation if delivered in person or within 93 days after the date of mailing of the request to the director of state courts if sent by registered mail, or within a longer period agreed to by the claimant and all respondents and specified by them in writing for purposes of applying ss.
655.44 (4) and
(5) and
655.445 (3).
655.465 Annotation
A claimant's failure to participate in mediation within the 90-day period under sub. (7) does not require dismissal. The court may determine an appropriate sanction. Schulz v. Nienhuis,
152 Wis. 2d 434,
448 N.W.2d 655 (1989).
655.465 Annotation
If a party wishes to reschedule a mediation session for a time outside the 90-day statutory period, the party must obtain a written agreement to do so. If a respondent requests a rescheduling without providing a mutually agreed upon date within the 90 days and no written agreement is obtained, the mediation period does not terminate until the rescheduled mediation session is completed. Seaquist v. Physicians Insurance Co. of Wisconsin,
192 Wis. 2d 530,
531 N.W.2d 437 (Ct. App. 1995).
655.465 Annotation
Completion of mediation within the period under sub. (7) is not a jurisdictional prerequisite for maintenance of a medical malpractice suit. Bertorello v. St. Joseph's Hospital of Marshfield,
685 F. Supp. 192 (1988).
655.54
655.54
Filing fee. Requests for mediation filed with the director of state courts are subject to a filing fee of $11. The filing fee shall be paid into the mediation fund under s.
655.68.
655.54 History
History: 1985 a. 340;
1989 a. 187 s.
28.
655.58
655.58
Mediation procedure. 655.58(1)(1)
No record. Mediation shall be conducted without a stenographic record or any other transcript.
655.58(2)
(2)
No exams, subpoenas, oaths. No physical examinations or production of records may be ordered, no witnesses may be subpoenaed and no oaths may be administered in mediation, whether by a mediation panel or member thereof or as a result of application to a court by any person.
655.58(3)
(3)
No expert witnesses; panel consultants permitted. 655.58(3)(a)
(a) Except as provided in par.
(b), no expert witnesses, opinions or reports may be submitted or otherwise used in mediation.
655.58(3)(b)
(b) The mediation panel or any member thereof may consult with any expert, and upon authorization of the director of state courts may compensate the expert from the appropriation under s.
20.680 (2) (qm).
655.58(4)
(4)
Patient records confidential except to parties. All patient health care records in the possession of a mediation panel shall be kept confidential by all members of the mediation panel and all other persons participating in mediation. Every person participating in mediation shall make available to one another and all members of the mediation panel all patient health care records of the patient named in the request for mediation that are in the person's possession.
655.58(5)
(5)
Counsel permitted. Any person participating in mediation may be represented by counsel authorized to act for his or her respective client.
655.58 History
History: 1985 a. 340;
1989 a. 187 s.
28.
655.61(1)(1)
The mediation fund created under s.
655.68 shall be financed from fees charged to health care providers. The director of state courts shall, by February 1 annually, determine the revenues needed for the operation of the mediation system during the succeeding fiscal year and inform the board of governors of that amount. The director of state courts shall also inform the board of governors of the number of requests for mediation involving each type of health care provider set out in s.
655.002 for the most recent fiscal year for which statistics are available. The board of governors shall set fees to charge health care providers at a level sufficient to provide the necessary revenue.
655.61(1m)
(1m) Notwithstanding sub.
(1), the board of governors may exempt any type of health care provider set out in s.
655.002 from payment of the annual fee based on a low number of requests for mediation involving that type of health care provider.
655.61(2)
(2) The annual fees under sub.
(1) shall be collected in a manner prescribed by rule of the commissioner. The commissioner shall pay all money collected under sub.
(1) into the mediation fund created under s.
655.68.
655.61(3)
(3) If the fees under sub.
(1) for any particular fiscal year are not established by the board of governors or approved by the joint committee on finance under s.
655.27 (3) (bt) before June 2 of that fiscal year, the commissioner may elect to collect fees as established for the previous fiscal year. If the commissioner so elects and the fees for that fiscal year are subsequently established by the board of governors or approved by the joint committee on finance under s.
655.27 (3) (bt), the balance for the fiscal year shall be collected or refunded, except that the commissioner may elect not to collect or refund minimal amounts.
655.61 Cross-reference
Cross-reference: See also s.
Ins 17.01, Wis. adm. code.
MEDIATION FUND
655.68(1)(1)
Creation. There is created a mediation fund to pay the administrative expenses of the mediation system created under subch.
VI.
655.68(2)
(2)
Administration and operation. Management of the mediation fund is vested with the director of state courts.
655.68(4)
(4)
Accounting and financial reports. 655.68(4)(a)
(a) Any person authorized to receive deposits, withdraw moneys, issue vouchers or otherwise disburse mediation fund moneys shall post a blanket fidelity bond in an amount reasonably sufficient to protect mediation fund assets. The cost of the bond shall be paid from the mediation fund.
655.68(4)(b)
(b) The state investment board shall invest money held in the mediation fund in short-term, fixed-return, interest-bearing investments. All income derived from these investments returns to the mediation fund.
655.68(4)(c)
(c) On or before March 1 annually, the director of state courts shall submit a report on the operation of the mediation system and on the status of the mediation fund to the chief clerk of each house of the legislature, for distribution to the appropriate standing committees under s.
13.172 (3).
