How to apologize for adverse events
American Health Lawyers Association released
guidelines on honest disclosure
June 15, 2012 | By Karen M. Cheung FierceHealthCare
American Health Lawyers
Association (AHLA) this week released guidelines
for providers on disclosing serious clinical adverse events.
"In analyzing
disclosures of information in connection with SCAEs, there are regulatory and
legal considerations regardless of the type of incident," Elisabeth
Belmont of MaineHealth, AHLA public interest committee task force chair, said
in an announcement
Wednesday.
AHLA noted that the process is multi-faceted and requires careful
planning and coordination of administration and clinicians with the
organization. Regardless if the adverse
event came from system failures or human errors, hospitals should offer timely
and honest communication with empathy to the patient and the family, AHLA
noted.
In Massachusetts, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Massachusetts
General Hospital and Baystate Health are testing
liability reform with a "disclosure, apology and offer" program,
in which legal action is a last resort. The process promotes transparency, in
which the hospital investigates and explains why an adverse event occurred and
establishes systems to improve patient safety and reporting. When appropriate, the hospital apologizes
and offers fair financial compensation without the patient having to resort to
legal action.
The honest, transparent approach to adverse events is
exemplified in a very public, still-discussed apology. President and CEO Sandra Coletta
of Rhode Island's Kent Hospital was hailed for doing the right thing by
apologizing for the death of actor James Woods's brother, Michael.
In 2006, Michael Woods died of a heart attack, waiting in the emergency room.
The hospital attributed the death to both human errors and poorly designed
space.
"Quite honestly, I did
nothing other than what my mother taught me," Coletta previously said
about the apology process. "I think all too often in healthcare, we
evaluate, and we are counseled, and we read books upon books. But, sometimes,
you just have to go back to your core value.
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