Admitting mistakes: Ethics says yes, instinct says no

摘要

Seven Massachusetts hospitals recently announced a collaborative effort called "I'm Sorry" that involves disclosure, apology and an offer of compensation to patients who have experienced adverse outcomes while under care in their institutions. The program, the first of its kind from a major group of North American hospitals, is based on earlier efforts in Michigan and Stanford that pioneered open disclosure and integrated it into patient safety activities that emphasized honesty using risk managers with clinical backgrounds.1 While one of the main motivations for these programs is to reduce the cost of medical liability suits, a secondary motive is to improve patients' safety and satisfaction while providing institutional assistance to physicians in cases where error and adverse events occur.