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Harvard Medical School, more physicians consider apology policy

Patient Safety Monitor Alert, July 28, 2005

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More hospital systems are considering policies that have physicians and hospitals apologize for medical errors. Training hospitals affiliated with Harvard Medical School are considering an apology policy to help increase trust between patients and physicians, according to The Boston Globe. A column in the New York Times also advocated apologizing to patients to help increase patient trust.

The Harvard plan comes as new evidence shows physician apologies may help reduce the number of malpractice suits filed after a medical error has occurred. Proponents say that an honest and meaningful apology is enough to convince a patient that the error was an honest mistake. It also eliminates the sense of deception or resistance that refusing an apology can cause.

The Times piece, written by a physician, claims that apologizing may pierce the aura of omnipotence around a physician, but it humanizes them to the patient who was injured. That alone can help convince a family that an error was an honest mistake and turn away a malpractice claim.

To read the Globe story, click here. To read the Times story, click here.

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