In an Adverse Event, Honesty Is the Best Policy
Open communication is the key to avoiding liability claims.
W
hen an adverse event occurs, the patient and his family
want to know what happened. If a doctor or facility avoids
giving an answer, or worse, lies, it is often the start of a
heated medical malpractice suit. In fact, it's been shown that patients
who are dissatisfied with how their provider handled an adverse event
are more likely to sue than when communication about the mistake is
open and honest (osmag.net/C7CtnE).
Often, though, the doctor isn't dodging questions due to mali-
ciousness, but because of the complicated relationship between the
provider or facility and its malpractice insurer. Hiding the truth
about an adverse event is wrong, but until our current system
changes, it's a
threat you need
to be aware of.
Patients and
families want
answers after
these events,
and handling
them in the cor-
rect way can
save your facili-
ty and physi-
cians the time
and hassle of a
lawsuit while
cultivating a
3 6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A Y 2 0 1 6
Medical Malpractice
Frank Jones
• BETTER COMMUNICATION Encourage your surgeons when dealing with adverse events to first dis-
cuss the issue with their insurance agents before disclosing the incident to the patient and her family.
Jason
Meehan
