TY - JOUR
T1 - Disclosing adverse events to patients
T2 - International norms and trends
AU - Wu, Albert W.
AU - McCay, Layla
AU - Levinson, Wendy
AU - Iedema, Rick
AU - Wallace, Gordon
AU - Boyle, Dennis J.
AU - McDonald, Timothy B.
AU - Bismark, Marie M.
AU - Kraman, Steve S.
AU - Forbes, Emma
AU - Conway, James B.
AU - Gallagher, Thomas H.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright 2017 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Objectives: There is a growing expectation in health systems around the world that patients will be fully informed when adverse events occur. However, current disclosure practices often fall short of this expectation. Methods: We reviewed trends in policy and practice in 5 countries with extensive experience with adverse event disclosure: the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. Results: We identified 5 themes that reflect key challenges to disclosure: (1) the challenge of putting policy into large-scale practice, (2) the conflict between patient safety theory and patient expectations, (3) the conflict between legal privilege for quality improvement and open disclosure, (4) the challenge of aligning open disclosure with liability compensation, and (5) the challenge of measurement related to disclosure. Conclusions: Potential solutions include health worker education coupled with incentives to embed policy into practice, better communication about approaches beyond the punitive, legislation that allows both disclosure to patients and quality improvement protection for institutions, apology protection for providers, comprehensive disclosure programs that include patient compensation, delinking of patient compensation from regulatory scrutiny of disclosing physicians, legal and contractual requirements for disclosure, and better measurement of its occurrence and quality. A longerterm solution involves educating the public and health care workers about patient safety.
AB - Objectives: There is a growing expectation in health systems around the world that patients will be fully informed when adverse events occur. However, current disclosure practices often fall short of this expectation. Methods: We reviewed trends in policy and practice in 5 countries with extensive experience with adverse event disclosure: the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. Results: We identified 5 themes that reflect key challenges to disclosure: (1) the challenge of putting policy into large-scale practice, (2) the conflict between patient safety theory and patient expectations, (3) the conflict between legal privilege for quality improvement and open disclosure, (4) the challenge of aligning open disclosure with liability compensation, and (5) the challenge of measurement related to disclosure. Conclusions: Potential solutions include health worker education coupled with incentives to embed policy into practice, better communication about approaches beyond the punitive, legislation that allows both disclosure to patients and quality improvement protection for institutions, apology protection for providers, comprehensive disclosure programs that include patient compensation, delinking of patient compensation from regulatory scrutiny of disclosing physicians, legal and contractual requirements for disclosure, and better measurement of its occurrence and quality. A longerterm solution involves educating the public and health care workers about patient safety.
KW - Adverse event
KW - Disclosure
KW - Malpractice
KW - Risk management
KW - Transparency
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U2 - 10.1097/PTS.0000000000000107
DO - 10.1097/PTS.0000000000000107
M3 - Article
C2 - 24717530
AN - SCOPUS:84897366234
SN - 1549-8417
VL - 13
SP - 43
EP - 49
JO - Journal of patient safety
JF - Journal of patient safety
IS - 1
ER -