“Resolución Alterna de Conflictos” (RAC) - Alternative Disputes Resolution

RAC aims to resolve hereditary controversies, of available nature, about affairs related to the professional practice of health.

What is the RAC center?

The Center for Alternative Disputes Resolution (RAC, by its initials in Spanish) of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Costa Rica is an initiative born from the college’s governing board.  It is the board’s body that aims to solve hereditary controversies, of available nature, about affairs related to the professional practice of health, through the administration of conciliation and/or arbitration mechanisms directed towards companies, professionals who are, or are not, members of the college, and health services users.

The Center is completely autonomous from the College, its governing board and other bodies, in regards to the management of the cases it handles.

The procedures related to affairs handled by the Center are completely confidential, independent and impartial.

The “Dirección Nacional de Resolución Alterna de Conflictos (DINARAC) —National Management of Alternative Dispute Resolution— of the Ministry of Justice authorized the RAC, through resolution number 009-2008 DINARAC established at 13:00 hours of June 9th, 2008, to institutionally manage conciliation and arbitration mechanisms.

Types of cases handled

The Center for RAC handles affairs that arise from the exercise of health sciences, be it between health professionals and patients, employers, clients, health institutions, administrative staff, or colleagues, as long as these are hereditary controversies, of available nature, that are lawful and possible.  The College’s Moral Court will handle conflicts that encompass ethical responsibilities without hereditary impact.

What services does it offer?

Consultation services

The RAC offers information about the options available for someone who is in a dispute resulting from the hiring of professional health services.

Reference services

When the conflict does not fall under the center’s scope, it can refer the person or institution to the relevant authority or agency.

Conciliation processes

These are the mechanisms through which two or more parties to a dispute look for mutually satisfactory solutions to their interests through the intervention of an impartial third party that facilitates communications during the process.

Arbitration processes

These are the mechanisms through which the parties subject the resolution of the dispute to an impartial third party called ‘ruling tribunal’ (individual or collegiate) for it to study the case and decide with a binding nature.

It can be law arbitration (solved according to the current legislation) or equity arbitration (solved according to equity, prudence, and conscience).

Benefits of RAC processes

• The process is less expensive and less emotional for the parties involved.
• The proceedings are confidential.
• The proceedings are more agile and expeditious.
• The solutions reached have sentence character (mediation agreements or decisions).
• The solutions are more sustainable because these are built by the parties to the dispute.
• The process creates a more favorable atmosphere to improve the relationship between the parties.
• The process favors dialogue and social peace.

How to make contact with the Center

In order to initiate the CONCILIATION process, all the parties involved in the dispute must voluntarily and freely agree to participate.  Next, the interested party presents its case to the RAC-CMC Center for technical evaluation. 

If the dispute is deemed admissible by the RAC-CMC Center, a conciliator, selected from a list maintained by the Center, is assigned to the case.

To initiate the ARBITRATION process, the contracting parties have to subscribe a ruling clause in which by mutual agreement they decide to contact the RAC-CMC Center in case of conflict.  When controversy arises, the interested party will request that the RAC-CMC Center initiate the process according to the current legislation.

The RAC-CMC Center and PROMED

The Council for International Promotion of Costa Rica Medicine -PROMED- endorsed the RAC Center of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Costa Rica to resolve eventual conflicts related to health matters that a foreign patient may have when using the services of PROMED’s affiliates.  This was done in consideration of the fact that for Costa Rica to be competitive internationally in offering health services, it is crucial to provide a method for the legal resolution of cases where a patient feels unsatisfied with the service tendered.

Depending on the complexity of the case, resolution in the courts could take years to reach, with no guarantee of a satisfactory result for either of the parties.

Contact

Fax: (506) 2210-22-69 and (506) 2210-22-68

Web: www.medicos.cr/centrorac

Email: centrorac@medicos.cr

Physical address:College of Physicians and Surgeons of Costa Rica, south side of “La Sabana” park, from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG, by its initials in Spanish), 75 meters east.

Public opening hours:Monday through Friday from 8am until 5pm.