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By Zhai Yun Tan | KHN.org
It was a fourth of July weekend but Sharon O’ Brien, an intensive care physician, was not celebrating. A medical error earlier landed a patient in her ICU. The patient eventually died — and she had to decide what to tell the patient’s family.
Should she apologize? How much detail should she share about the mistake? Would a frank discussion put the hospital at risk of a lawsuit?
“I had never really been in that situation before,” said O’Brien, recalling the 2004 incident. She decided to tell the patient’s family about the error, bracing herself to face their anger. While the family was stricken by grief, they appreciated her honesty.
“I spent a lot of time with the patient’s family supporting them and explaining what had happened, and yet I felt so unsupported in that experience,” said O’Brien, a physician at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.
Hospitals have traditionally been reticent to disclose to patients or their family members the specifics of how a medical procedure didn’t go as planned for fear of malpractice lawsuits. In recent years, though, many are beginning to consider a change. Instead of the usual “deny-and-defend” approach, they are revamping their policies to be more open.
To help them move in this direction, the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality released in May an online toolkit designed to expand the use of the agency’s “Communication and Optimal Resolution” process, which establishes guidelines for adopting more transparency in communicating adverse events.
Hospitals’ interest in this approach has been fueled by studies showing that patients want to know when an adverse event has occurred and doctors suffer from anxiety when there are restrictions and concerns about what they are allowed to discuss. Some studies have found that patients are more likely to sue when they perceive that there is a lack of honesty.
MedStar Health, which is among the largest health providers in Maryland and the Washington, D.C. region, has been one of the pioneers in setting up such programs at all of its 10 hospitals. In 2012, it launched standardized program based on AHRQ’s guidelines across the system that drew on similar initiatives that were already in place at its various facilities. O’Brien was one of the first to sign up as a volunteer at Georgetown University Hospital.
The initiative established a standardized approach for physicians when they have to communicate with patients and family members about adverse events. A team of physicians — called the “Go Team” — complete a four-hour initial training program and then annual booster courses every six to eight months to prepare them for these conversations and also to help other staff physicians who confront the problem. After that, Go Team members are on call 24/7 to provide guidance. Another program, “Care for the Caregiver,” provides psychological support to other physicians as needed.
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