Say You're Sorry And Get A Pass?
By ALAN BAVLEY
The Kansas City Star
(FiDA Blog bolded)
Should apologies to injured
patients be enough to keep malpractice cases off a doctor’s record?
A campaign has gotten under
way to make that happen. And patient safety advocates are raising red flags.
Leading the campaign is an
organization called Sorry Works! — yes, the exclamation point is part of its
name.
Sorry Works! started as an
advocacy group promoting apologies and disclosure of mistakes as a way to
defuse the anger and bewilderment of injured patients that often lead to
malpractice suits.
It’s a persuasive idea.
Many patients who sue their
doctors say they wouldn’t have felt a need to go to court if they had gotten an
explanation and an apology. Hospitals have tried full disclosure with offers of
compensation and seen declines in lawsuits or the amounts paid to settle
claims.
But about five years ago,
Sorry Works! changed from a coalition of doctors, lawyers, insurers and patient
advocates. Now it’s a commercial consulting firm. Founder Doug Wojcieszak
offers training to hospitals and doctors. And he has started crusading for new
immunity for doctors who apologize.
The National Practitioner
Data Bank is a federal record of doctors’ dirty laundry — license suspensions,
health care fraud convictions, malpractice payments. State medical boards
consult it before granting licenses. Hospitals check it before offering staff
privileges.
Wojcieszak wants the data
bank to keep malpractice payments secret in many cases when doctors make
apologies and disclosures. Further, he wants doctors shielded from medical board
discipline on these cases.
Doctors would get a pass on
two cases over 10 years; a third case during that time would open the files.
Wojcieszak considers this
only fair for doctors who risk their reputations by admitting to errors.
Two cases may not seem like a
lot, but it is. While working on a story last year, I found that most doctors
never face more than one lawsuit, and most suits are dropped or dismissed.
Doctors who cross
Wojcieszak’s disclosure threshold are rare. For example, Massachusetts regulators
estimated that of the 34,000 physicians licensed in the state, fewer than 100
will make more than two payments on malpractice claims over 10 years.
More than two dozen patient
safety advocates and organizations like Consumers Union say Wojcieszak’s
proposal would give doctors who were going to settle a suit anyway an incentive
to apologize just to keep it off their record.
This would gut the data bank
as a tool for protecting the public and tie the hands of medical boards by
putting many questionable doctors out of reach.
Wojcieszak has gotten some
support for his campaign: The Sorry Works! website lists donations from the
CEOs of a health care staffing company and an organization that deters
“frivolous malpractice claims.”
To reach Alan Bavley, call
816-234-4858 or send email to abavley@kcstar.com.
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