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We are pleased to share an important and compelling interview Jane Ruddell, a former hosptial defense attorney. Please share this important interview with friends and colleagues by forwarding this free newsletter.
What makes Jane's story and this interview so important and compelling is her instant crediblity with healthcare and insurance professionals. She has spent the better part of her legal career defending hospitals and insurers from lawsuits. Like many defense attorneys, Jane initially believed the best way to thwart a lawsuit was to limit and even break off communication with patients and families after bad outcomes. But her feelings have changed.
Ms. Ruddell began her health law career in 1984 as the first General Counsel for the Lankenau Hospital in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. She capped her 20 year in-house counsel career with 8 years of service as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the Jefferson Health System, the largest system of health care providers in the greater Philadelphia region.
Jane currently owns a consulting company - Healthcare Resolutions - and she advices and instructs healthcare and insurance professionals on the importance of full-disclosure and Sorry Works!
Below are questions we asked Ms. Ruddell and her unedited responses. Again, please share this important interview with colleagues and friends by forwarding this free e-newsletter.
SW!: Tell us briefly about your career you've defended hospitals and doctors in medical malpractice lawsuits throughout your career, correct?
Jane Ruddell: I have for a good part of my career. I had a private practice litigation background before I became the first general counsel for a large hospital system in the Philadelphia area. While with the system I had responsibility for medical claims and litigation for a number of years before moving to a senior management position. My claims work included managing the aftermath of adverse events, coaching physicians and caregivers, working closely with outside defense counsel on trial strategy, negotiating settlements and preparing physicians, nurses and other caregivers as witnesses.
SW!: You used to advise "deny and defend" to your physician and hospital clients, correct?
Jane Ruddell: Yes, initially I did. In the aftermath of adverse events, I advised physicians to be extremely careful, giving out only controlled and coached information. And, for sure, I did not advise them to talk to families freely and openly. Rather, I invoked an old litigation motto: "What you don't say can't hurt you." Just when the patient and physicians were most in need of contact and connection, I advised our hospitals and physicians to withdraw behind a wall of silence.
SW!: What made you change your mind about deny and defend?
Jane Ruddell: Observation and experience. One incident in particular stays with me. We inexplicably lost a mother following a routine C- section in one of our hospitals. The look of utter devastation on the face of the attending OB/GYN as he told me about it spoke volumes. I realized then how important it was to recognize and address the human, not just the legal, concerns when counseling my clients. Over time, I have watched the emotional toll these situations take on physicians and nurses. They experience anxiety, sadness, guilt, remorse, fear, and self-doubt. Litigation adds anger, frustration and hostility and, often by the time of trial, full blown vilification. At some point, it just struck me that a non- communicative, dehumanizing, adversarial process was at complete odds with the mission of healing, delivering compassionate care and treating patients with dignity and respect. Coupling that with the high cost and unpredictability of litigation, I began to think about ways to reduce its emotional, financial and time-consuming costs. This led me to focus more on why patients pursue legal action in the first place and to find ways to handle adverse events differently.
SW!: Why doesn't defend and deny work and sorry does?
Jane Ruddell: Because it's human. If you are looking for vindication and victory in court, defend and deny does work - if you win. But litigation ignores the underlying reasons patients sue in the first place. Patients want information, an explanation of what happened, provider accountability and to be sure someone else doesn't have to go through what they did. Patients turn to lawyers because doctors and hospitals stop talking to them. Full disclosure, apologies and open communication pre- empt the fundamental reasons patients sue, allow for human expression of compassion and concern and create a foundation for physicians and hospitals to work with patients to address their needs. Litigation offers only money, but these other issues are often more important to patients than dollars.
SW!: Tell us about your business now and how you promote full-disclosure/SorryWorks! with your clients.
Jane Ruddell: I founded HCR because I believe that our health care industry needs better ways to prevent and resolve conflicts of all kinds.
We talk about HCR's work in the medical liability and claims field as "Restoring the Human Connection." Our programs help organizations and individuals recognize and respond to the core human dimension inherent in every adverse outcome and prevent costly litigation. We design our early intervention programs around communication training and coaching, accepting accountability, bringing patients into the process and keeping them fully informed, listening to them, and changing policies and practices based on what we learn from them. While customizing our models for each client, these components are central to all.
One of our most exciting projects is working with the Pennsylvania Medical Society on an innovative 7 Point Mediation Initiative. Roger Mecum, the Executive Director of PMS, designed the initiative to use mediation as a way to change Pennsylvania's difficult litigation climate for physicians. We are working with PMS on education and training, creating a Mediation Kit for physicians, and starting a cutting edge pilot early intervention program. The Pilot will be led by one of the county medical societies in cooperation with the courts, the county bar association and a non-profit hospital and will be consistent with the philosophy of SorryWorks! To my knowledge, a cross- disciplinary, collaborative program like this Pilot will be the first of its kind anywhere.
HCR is pleased to be a part of the SorryWorks! Coalition. It is heartening to know that so many like-minded people are all working in many ways to improve the human experience in healthcare.
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