Apologies can be more effective than an army of defense lawyers
University of Illinois Hospital has adopted the approach of the University of Michigan in dealing with medical errors. Rather than run from the truth doctors involved in medical malpractice are being honest with the victim and apologizing. The result has been fewer lawsuits and less cost for malpractice litigation.
At the University of Michigan Health System, one of the first to experiment with full disclosure, existing claims and lawsuits dropped to 83 in August 2007 from 262 in August 2001, said Richard C. Boothman, the medical center's chief risk officer.''Improving patient safety and patient communication is more likely to cure the malpractice crisis than defensiveness and denial,'' Boothman said.
Boothman emphasized that he could not know whether the decline was due to disclosure or safer medicine, or both. But the hospital's legal defense costs and the money it must set aside to pay claims have each been cut by two-thirds, he said. The time taken to dispose of cases has been halved.
The number of malpractice filings against the University of Illinois has dropped by half since it started its program just over two years ago, said Dr. Timothy B. McDonald, the hospital's chief safety and risk officer. In the 37 cases where the hospital acknowledged a preventable error and apologized, only one patient has filed suit. Only six settlements have exceeded the hospital's medical and related expenses.
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