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Douglas B. Wojcieszak, Founder & Spokesperson,
The Sorry Works! Coalition
618-559-8168, doug@sorryworks.net
Doug Wojcieszak is a public relations consultant who has had several personal and professional experiences with tort reform and medical malpractice issues. He lost his oldest brother to medical errors in 1998 and his family successfully sued the hospital and doctors with the case settling in 2000. The hospital attorneys apologized to Wojcieszak's family, but only after the case was settled and money exchanged hands, and they never admitted fault for the incident.
Around the same time his brother's case was concluding, Wojcieszak left his employment with the Illinois House Republicans and accepted the position of executive director of Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch (I-LAW), a grass-roots, pro-tort reform group. He was able to place over 200 positive stories about lawsuit abuse and capping lawsuit damages with TV, radio, and print media throughout Illinois. During his time with I-LAW, Wojcieszak also first read and studied full-disclosure methods for medical errors as a way to lower malpractice lawsuits and liability costs as well as reduce medical errors.
Wojcieszak left I-LAW in 2001 and returned to the Illinois House Republicans for a brief stint, after which time he founded a public relations consulting firm: Tactical Consulting. The firm has had several clients, including a pro-plaintiffs group, Victims and Families United (VAFU). Wojcieszak served as the group's spokesperson in 2004 and touted traditional plaintiffs/anti-tort reform messages such as insurance reform and increased doctor discipline. However, while representing VAFU, Wojcieszak revisited full-disclosure methods and created a marketing term - "Sorry Works!" - to successfully promote apologies for medical errors as the solution to the medical malpractice crisis.
Wojcieszak was able to place over 50 stories about Sorry Works! during 2004 with numerous media outlets, including the Chicago Tribune, St. Louis Post Dispatch, CNBC, and a worldwide story through the Associated Press. He noticed that Sorry Works!, while agreeable to many trial lawyers, also attracted the interest and support of many doctors and insurers. These observations led Wojcieszak to create a new, separate group - The Sorry Works! Coalition - in February 2005 solely dedicated to promoting Sorry Works! and full-disclosure methods as a middle ground solution to the malpractice crisis. He currently serves as the group's spokesperson.
The Sorry Works! Coalition has grown quickly to over 2,000 members nationwide, the website has received over 2 million hits, and the group has been publicized in countless popular and trade publications, including Time Magazine, National Review, National Law Journal, and American Medical Association News.
Sorry Works! has become the nation's leading organization advocating full-disclosure as a middle-ground solution to the medical malpractice crisis, and the group's website has become the site for information and updates on the full-disclosure movement.
In his speeches on Sorry Works!, Wojcieszak teaches healthcare, insurance, and legal professionals what patients and families want most after adverse events and bad outcomes: honesty, accountability, communication, and a real commitment to fix problems. In short, patients and families want and demand good customer service. Wojcieszak has given his talks to prominent medical, healthcare, and insurance organizations throughout the United States - see list below:
Past Presentations
Greater New York Hospital Association
Advocate Health Care Grand Rounds - Chicago
South Carolina Senate, medical malpractice subcommittee
Loyola University Health Law Seminar
Press Conference with Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, Washington, D.C.
Chicago Healthcare Risk Management Society Meeting
Chicago NW CPCU Society
University of Maryland Health & Law Seminar
APMC Insurance Services
American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons – state strategies meeting
South Carolina Hospital Association
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Annual Congressional Leadership Conference
Central Illinois CPCU Society
American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery
California Medical Board
Michigan Hospital Association
Virginia Medical Society Tort Reform Summit
Tennessee House of Representatives
MacNeal Hospital (Chicago, IL)
Indiana Association for Healthcare Quality
Washington Orthopaedic Surgeons
Crittenden's Insurance Meeting
Texas Medical Board
Federation of State Medical Boards
Australasian Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery
New Jersey Medical Liability Task Force
New York State Neurological Society
Placentia Linda Hospital, Placentia, CA
PhRMA Medical Liability Conference
West Virginia Hospital Association
McLeod Health, Florence, South Carolina
Carson City Hospital (Carson City, MI)
Utah Orthopaedic Surgeons
Arizona/Western Orthopaedic Surgeons
New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals
Wisconsin Society for Healthcare Risk Management
Baylor University Medical Center
ExecuSummit Insurance Conference
Physicians' Reciprocal Insurers 6th Annual Education Conference
Colorado Patient Safety Coalition Meeting
Advocate Health Care, Chicago, IL
Holy Name Hospital (Teaneck, NJ)
Texas Tech Univ. Health Sciences Center/El Paso (TX) Hospital Medical Staff
Pro-Mutual Insurance Company (Boston, MASS)
Health Care For All (Boston, MASS)
CNA Insurance/CNA insured hospitals in North Carolina
RM&PSI Las Vegas National Seminar
PLICO Insurance (Spring 07)
Missouri Center for Patient Safety
Tennessee ASHRM Chapter
JUA/Marsh Insurance
Adventist Hospitals in Chicago (three speaking engagements)
The Reading Hospital and Medical Center, West Reading, PA
Southern California Society of Healthcare Risk Managers
CHS Hospital Risk Managers Tennessee
North Carolina Association for Healthcare Quality
Canadian Ombudsman Association
JCAHO/JCR Conference on Disclosure & Apology
Meadowbrook/Star Insurance Conference for Physician Insureds
Compliance Online webinars (Summer 07)
Sun Rise Hospital, Las Vegas, Nevada (two presentations - Summer 07)
Alegent Hospital Network
Future Presentations/Engagements
Member, Palmetto Healthcare Liability Insurance Sorry Works! Committee
Compliance Online webinars (Fall 07)
PLICO Insurance (Fall 07)
Illinois Risk Management Services 23rd Annual Meeting
Sun Rise Hospital, Las Vegas, Nevada (two presentations - Fall 07)
Highmark Health Care (Pittsburgh, PA)
Execusummit Insurance Conference
Kentucky Society of Healthcare Risk Managers
Womack Army Medical Center (Ft. Bragg, North Carolina)
Community Medical Centers (Fresno, CA)
Delaware Association for Healthcare Quality
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