In this video we're going to talk about disclosing medical errors.
For a second, ask yourself,
do you think you will make a medical error that harms a patient during your career?
Do you think you will make a medical error that contributes to a patient's death?
In an anonymous house officer survey,
house officers were asked about their worst mistake.
90% of officers reported having been involved in a serious adverse outcome.
Of those 31% involved the patient dying and of the
90% only 24% actually told the patient or family about the serious event.
When a medical error happens,
there's an ethical duty to disclose to the patient
and their family about the medical error.
The American College of Physicians said that physicians should disclose to patients
information about procedural and judgment errors made in the course of care,
if such information significantly affects the care of the patient.
In addition, many regulatory agencies also
have statements about what should be disclosed.
When trying to identify what should be disclosed to a patient,
it's important to consider the following questions.
Who should do the actual disclosure of an error?
It's important that you refer to your organization's policy
but it should be someone who can explain to the patient or family member what occurred.
When thinking about when the event should
be disclosed to the patient and family member as
soon as possible but at a time that is reasonable given their care plan.
Where should the event be disclosed.
It's important that events be disclosed in the privacy,
in a place where a patient or family member can have a private conversation.
And what should be told to the patient?
It's important that you only share what is known at the time of
the event and that you actually stick with the facts.
Provide just the facts,
answer questions, admit when you don't know something.
Outline a follow up plan and consider surroundings and emotions.
It's important to make sure that you're not having
these conversations in a waiting room but that they're in a private place.
What patients want when something bad happens?
They want the facts,
they want to know that responsibility is taken,
they would like an apology,
and most importantly they want to know that actions are being
taken to prevent the same thing from happening to someone else.