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IN THIS EDITION:
- Sorry Works! Audio Conference - save the date
- Anonymous Posting from Pharmacy Student
- Presentation at McLeod/Important Question
- The Great Untalked About in Med-Mal
Sorry Works! Audio Conference - save the date!
Save the date - the first ever, nation-wide Sorry Works! audio conference will be held on Tuesday, November 14 at 1pm EST. The conference is a joint project between the Risk Management and Patient Safety Institute (RM&PSI) and The Sorry Works! Coalition.
Dr. Geri Amori, past president of ASHRM, and current RM&PSI senior director will lead and moderate the 90-minute audio conference. The panelists for the audio conference are Dr. Steve Kraman (first physician to implement a hospital-wide disclosure program), Bruce Klores (prominent med-mal plaintiff's attorney), Joe Johnson (med-mal defense attorney for Triad Hospitals), and Doug Wojcieszak (founder/spokesperson, The Sorry Works! Coalition).
The audio conference is a great opportunity for organizations that want to learn more about disclosure, especially hospitals, insurers, and medical organizations that are just beginning the process of evaluating and studying disclosure. The audio conference is also a wonderful teaching tool for professors and instructors working with future healthcare, insurance, and legal professionals.
More details will follow in the coming weeks - please save November 14 at 1pm EST on your calendar. Furthermore, please let your colleagues and friends know about the conference...spreading the word about this event is a great and easy way to help Sorry Works! Thanks.
Anonymous Posting from Pharmacy Student
We were recently forwarded an anonymous posting by a pharmacy student about the importance of disclosure that we thought you, our readers, would enjoy reading and possibly passing on to colleagues:
"Patients definitely respond more positively if they are told the truth and treated with respect. One pharmacist I worked under refused to tell a patient the entire story after an error; she sort of explained the situation but was not very direct in her explanation and certainly did not take the blame for her own mistake. I'm certain she treated previous patients in a similar manner but this particular customer knew she was giving him the run around. The pharmacist was almost sued because she could not admit an error. She didn't want to lose credibilty with co-workers or the patient by admitting a mistake, but instead she lost it because she couldn't be honest."
Presentation at McLeod/Important Question
Two days ago, Sorry Works! spokesperson Doug Wojcieszak made a presentation at McLeod Regional Medical Center in Florence, South Carolina. This was the third trip to the Palmetto State for Sorry Works! in the last year, and the reception we receive gets better every time. Not only did McLeod staff attend the talk, but so did staff from other healthcare and insurance organizations across South Carolina. The staff at McLeod and other organizations across South Carolina are beginning the process of developing disclosure programs, and Sorry Works! is excited to be part of this process.
During the Question and Answer session, a gentlemen in the crowd asked an excellent question that we want to share with our readers across the country:
QUESTION: "Involving the plaintiff's bar in Sorry Works/disclosure programs is necessary for the credibilty of the program with patients and families, but won't plaintiff's lawyers raise the cost of settlements negoitated in disclosure programs? After all, plaintiff's lawyers are going to want 30 to 50 percent of the settlements and they (the PI attorneys) will have to involve outside experts, take depositions, etc. Surely, PI attorneys will raise - not lower - costs in Sorry Works! disclosure programs, correct?"
ANSWER: No. Hospitals and insurers operating disclosure programs that involve plaintiff's attorneys report that settlement figures go down - not up - when plaintiff's attorneys are involved in the process. Why? There are several reasons.
First, disclosure programs remove anger from the process, which is what fuels plaintiffs and plaintiff's attorneys to seek large settlements and jury verdicts. Anger being replaced by honesty, candor, and problem solving is a big reason costs go down.
Second, plaintiff's attorney view disclosure programs differently than traditional med-mal litigation. Under traditional med-mal, palintiff's attorneys have to litigate cases usually two to four years (if not longer), carry expenses in the five to six figure range for that time period, and usuallly have a 1 in 3 chance of a positive (paying) outcome. Under Sorry Works!, cases are disposed of in months if not weeks (which saves on defense litigation expenses too), if there was an error there will be a settlement, and no upfront expenses have to be carried by the PI firm. Furthermore, in disclosure programs, the hospital/insurer opens the records and answers all questions upfront, thus eliminating discovery and depositions (again, saving on defense litigation expenses too). In many instances, trial lawyers are there to simply help the patient/family complete forms and make sure the rights and interests of the patient/family are protected throughout the process.
Trial lawyers get paid various ways in disclosure programs, from the traditional contigency fee to hourly fees...that's left up to the lawyer and client to decide appropriate compensation.
If a trial lawyer does decide to get greedy and not settle for a reasonable amount, the hospital/insurer retains all rights to go to trial with a great defense (i.e, you tried to do the right thing, but the plaintiff got greedy). Many med-mal cases are lost by plaintiffs who look greedy and over-reaching to the jury - ask any attorney. On the flip side, if the hospital/insurer is greedy and tries to get out of a settlement cheaply, plaintiffs retains their rights to go court too and show the defendant negoiated in bad faith - not good for the defense! Both sides maintaining their right to go to court keeps all players in the disclosure/settlement process honest and working towards a fair, reasonable outcome.
Finally, if your disclosure program does not involve plaintiff's attorneys, you will have trouble getting bigger cases (major injuries, wrongful deaths) through the program. Most people are OK settling smaller cases on their own (less than $30 to $50K), but with major, life-changing injuries or deaths people really want to make sure their interests are protected. They need their own attorney. Patients and families will not trust the hospital/insurer to look out for their interests. Don't exclude PI attorneys from the process, or you will see many patients/families forgo your disclosure/early offer program in favor of traditional litigation. Patients and families should never feel like the hospital/insurer is trying to pull a fast one on them, and by encouraging involvement of PI attorneys you remove those fears and make your disclosure program credible.
Got questions or comments about this segment? Send them to doug@sorryworks.net. Thanks.
The Great Untalked About in Med-Mal
The media often talks about the pain visited upon patients and families by medical errors (which is very real), but rarely do they talk about the pain and suffering experienced by medical professionals after medical errors. Sure, there are those healthcare professionals who are cold and callous and truly don't care, but the vast majority of doctors and nurses suffer greatly after a medical error. They beat themselves up and literally grieve. The situation is made worse when risk management and defense counsel tell the doctor or nurse to shut up and abandon the patient/family. Healthcare professionals being told not to heal patients and families who have been hurt only makes a bad situation worse. There are countless stories of clinical depression, ruined careers, divorces, and even suicides among healthcare professionals after medical errors.
Doctors and nurses need healing too after errors, and they can only receive the healing they need by taking ownership of an error, confessing their mistake to a patient and family, apologizing, and then hearing the magic words from a patient or family: "I forgive you."
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