Medscape Article on Apology Laws, Disclosure & Apology Programs

Earlier this week Medscape published an article on apology laws and Disclosure and Apology programs. Sorry Works! Founder and President Doug Wojcieszak was interviewed for the article and also helped the reporter connect with others in the field.  

This link will take you to the Medscape article. 

Several thoughts on the article:
 
1) We appreciated that the reporter went to great pains to differentiate between actual disclosure & apology programs, state-based apology laws (that traditionally have had nothing to do with disclosure programs), and the rise of "2nd generation apology laws" which are worded to encourage the development of disclosure programs. Too often people confuse apology laws with actual disclosure programs, so we are very thankful for the care given in writing this article.  

2) We are also thankful that the reporter informed readers about Sorry Works' new/upcoming research project that will analyze the effectiveness of "2nd Generation Apology Laws."  To learn more about this research project, please click here. 

3) The article was balanced and provided different and even opposing viewpoints. However, we have to take issue with comments of a physician and defense lawyer quoted in the article.  Moreover, these comments could have been opposed/balanced by physicians and defense saying the exact opposite.  Please understand, a common trope among physicians is they had this great relationship with a patient, everything was fine until something bad happened but it was most assuredly NOT a medical error, the doc said "sorry" and maybe even sent a card, etc, but then, amazingly, the family sued and, more amazingly, the docs' insurance company paid the claim.  This type of quote/story is problematic on so many levels.  We must remember that the average med-mal plaintiffs' lawyer rejects 99 out of 100 cases that come in the door, and insurers are even more skeptical about allegations of substandard care.  So, if a case is picked up and paid upon there is a decent chance the standard of care was not met. Cases involving a true medical error often need more than a verbal "sorry"...the family's needs (financial and emotional) should be ethically addressed, patient safety fixes need to be put in place, and the emotional needs of the medical staff (potential 2nd victims) also need to be met, all of which speaks to the development of a disclosure program.

4) For every doc who claims "sorry" got them sued after an adverse event that was not their fault (maybe, maybe not), there are countless other physicians who share stories of litigation that was avoided by appropriate post-event communication that included empathy and possibly apology.  Which brings us to the lawyer quoted in the story who stated her physician client got sued because of "sorry."  I repeat everything above and add the following: Saying nothing post-event is a far greater danger than being empathetic and if necessary apologetic post-event.  The evidence from the hospitals using disclosure and apology -- and cited in the Medscape article -- show this to be true.

For help training your staff on disclosure and apology, give us a call at 618-559-8168 or e-mail doug@sorrworks.net.  We've been training and teaching healthcare professionals on this topic longer than anyone else, and we would love to help you.

Sincerely,

- Doug

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