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“I’m Sorry” Goes A Long Way

When you make a mistake or things don’t go quite the way you planned, the normal response is an apology and or an offer to make restitution. That is the basic concept behind a new proposal being presented by several hospitals in the Boston area. The new procedure, called, Disclosure, Apology, Offer is being initiated by the Massachusetts Medical Society and they are being joined by 7 area hospitals. In the first phase of the initiative, when an error occurs, the patient or their family will be informed about exactly what took place, and if found to be appropriate, a formal apology would be given. The final proponent of the initiative would be to offer financial restitution for the incident and thereby avoid the enormous cost of attorney’s, investigations, and other litigation expenses.

According to a report, nearly 80% of the errors committed in hospitals are not reported for fear of being sued or reprimanded. The initiative’s supporters allegedly feel that most patients want the truth, they want it as quickly as possible and they want to be assured that those medical providers involved, will take measures to see that is doesn’t happen again.

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Re: “I’m Sorry” Goes A Long Way

I found this information quite interesting and thought provoking, as a matter of fact, so much so, I am not going to remove the self-referred link that was posted with it (we, the regular forum members, and I work very hard here to keep this forum SPAM free). As far as the posted news, I feel positive about this experiment of an honesty and restitution approach. I do not have the slightest doubt that fear of being sued leads to errors not being revealed, and from a patient's and family member's perspective, I agree, that more than anything, I would appreciate the truth and appropriate action in case of an error. Putting myself into their shoes, it would be my outrage over the fact that the truth was deliberately hidden that would drive me to sue, rather than the fact that a mistake occurred. I believe in honesty, and living up to a mistake, especially if it saves lives, or prevents (further) damage that may affect a person's entire life. I understand it might be embarassing, but it's the right thing to do. One would hope that mistakes don't happen too, too often, and are the exception anyway.

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