Hospital Refuses Apology to Doctor Patient --- even with disclosure program

A month ago the Washington Post published an op-ed piece written by Dr. Steven Horowitz, a retired academic neurologist, who claims he was the victim of misdiagnosis and inadequate care that would have crippled him were it not for his medical training.  Dr. Horowitz reviewed his records online after leaving the hospital, found deficiencies in his care, and checked himself into a 2nd hospital that fixed the previously unidentified problems before permanent damage happened.  Here is the article. 

Dr. Horowitz explains in his Post article how he shared details of his inadequate care with the CEO of the first hospital, and he received numerous defensive responsive from hospital representatives.  There was no empathy, apology, or ownership of the situation.  Dr. Horowitz offered to hold a Grand Rounds talk about his case to teach the medical staff, and his offer was ignored.  Eighteen months later, Dr. Horowitz found, by luck, the hospital's administrator tasked with disclosure/CRP, who, according to Dr. Horowitz is a disclosure advocate, yet this administrator was unaware of the case and admitted that a Grands Rounds talk would be a tough ask at the hospital.  The administrator continued by saying Dr. Horowitz might eventually get a chance to speak to their staff once the statute of limitations on his case expired! 

Sadly, we've heard this story before.  Disclosure can mean cherry picking, lack of follow through, or inadequate moral courage when the poop truly hits the fan. Moreover, in my career I have seen some of the worst cases of cover-up involving substandard care given to medical professionals or their family members.  

Seriously, people, we've only been doing disclosure/CRP for 20+ years and we still are in a situation where people need to write letters to the editor to get justice, answers, or an audience with the healthcare, insurance, and legal professional pledged to serve them?  How arrogant and stupid were the medical and legal professionals to turn down an offer from an academic neurologist to provide a teaching case to their team?  Moreover, it sounds like the culture of this hospital and their risk and legal teams need a shake-up, including the dismissal of certain people. It's a hell of thing to advocate for disclosure/CRP but then fail to act on those principles when your team is responsible for bad care.

As I have said countless times, review this type of story with your team and ask the all-important question: "What do we need to change in our hospital or nursing home so this is not us."  Make those changes before your next adverse event.

Sincerely,

- Doug

Doug Wojcieszak, Founder and President
Sorry Works!
618-559-8168 (direct dial)  
doug@sorryworks.net (direct e-mail)