Sorry seems to be the hardest word
The University of Michigan Health System has adopted a novel approach to dealing with medical errors–doctors fess up and apologize to the affected patients. The patients are also offered compensation. Though some may believe that admitting mistakes can only encourage medical malpractice lawsuits, the University of Michigan Health System has found that lawsuits have declined.
Chief risk officer Richard Boothman co-authored an article about this practice in the Journal of Health & Life Sciences Law in 2009. Lawsuits against the university’s system dropped by nearly half over the course of five years–from 121 in 2001 to 61 in 2006. The system also improved its claims processing time.
This open system of admitting error has been adopted by other medical systems around the nation, including Boston Medical Center and Stanford University Hospital in California. However, there are still plenty who have reservations about such a system. Some believe that medical malpractice lawsuits force doctors to be more accountable for their actions and thus improves patient safety.
For more on this open approach, see this article. What do you think? If your doctor apologized to you for a medical mistake, would it comfort or upset you? Do you think an apology would discourage you from filing a lawsuit?
This was posted
on Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 and is filed in the Legal, Patient Care categories.
July 29th, 2009 at 4:37 am
Read this story. Boothman did not apologize to this family. The Hereford family is owed an apology, instead Boothman adds insult to injury. It would be interesting to see the number of cases that Boothman and his hospital admit a mistake and make a genuine apology.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/20/AR2009072002298.html
Seems to me this is a brilliant PR strategy by Boothman and the hospital. They publicize that they apologize so when a patient doesn’t receive an apology they will think they must have been mistaken.
All propaganda, and newspapers by printed these apology stories are helping to spread it. Reporters should check their stories before printing them. Check into the number of patients that do not receive an apology.
WHATEVER happened to being honest because it is the RIGHT thing to do? The US healthcare system is in shambles because of dishonesty. The patient pays the ultimate price.