The role that an apology might play in reducing the likelihood of a medical malpractice lawsuit
Introduction
Medical errors are a reality in our healthcare institutions. Whenever they occur, prolonged consequences are experienced by the patients who, in this case, are the direct victims and the physicians. Awareness is being created on the need to disclose medical errors and related adverse occurrences to victims. This can be a central part of patient healthcare and have relevance to their safety. According to the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Hospital Organizations, it is ethical to disclose unanticipated outcomes to patients. Besides, numerous states are now requiring medical facilities and physicians to disclose medical malpractice to victims with recent research showing that the central component for effective disclosure of adverse events is an apology. In medical practice, an apology is a statement given by a physician to the patient. It entails recognizing the already occurred error, including an admission of faults, and also includes taking responsibility and communicating a sincere sense of regret for the caused harm. Complete apologies include assurance of refraining from engaging in similar conduct in the coming days as well as compensation for the harm in question. At the moment, there is growing interest in the general role of an apology in resolving disputes. It is worth noting that apology has significant relevance to the resolution of disputes in the context of medical error (McMichael, 2018).
Apologies and Patients
Most patients are always worried about the negative outcomes of medical treatment when the outcomes are due to medical malpractices. Patients exhibit interest in knowing what has happened, including receiving apologies and halting the occurrence of the same errors in the future. According to (Robbennolt, 2009) patients required to evaluate scenarios describing medical malpractices from a patient perspective indicated the desire for active acknowledgment of malpractices by physicians. Most of the patients surveyed in a medical care plan wanted a medical professional to say they were sincerely sorry. Besides, other patients desired to be informed promptly about medical malpractice, be given details about the occurrence, why and how it occurred, effects on the patients’ health, and the necessary steps to prevent the occurrence of harm.
Most importantly, the patients expected to receive an apology that signaled a sense of regret and the expectation to do better henceforth. Indeed, numerous patients said they would less likely be upset if the doctors disclosed the error in an honest and compassionate manner. According to these patients, apologies from physicians have the potential to halt the risk of a medical malpractice lawsuit. This is because apologizing helps settle claims by affected patients. When patients want and expect explanations and apologies following medical malpractice, physicians should be quick to apologize. Apologies have positive effects on intentions for the continued relationship between the patient and the physician. Trust is restored, and chances of a medical malpractice lawsuit become negligible.
Most patients that file lawsuits are motivated to get clarity of what transpired to prevent any future injury with such motivations implicating apologies. For instance, (Nazione 2015) carried out research on medical malpractice claimants and the reasons that motivated the lawsuit. Most of the respondents said that their aim was to prevent medical malpractice from happening to their colleagues and other persons in society. This is in addition to getting an explanation of the malpractice and the need for the physicians to realize their mistakes. Some of the respondents agreed that something could have been done to halt the lawsuit. They agreed that had the physicians explained and apologized, their need to file a lawsuit would have been invalidated. This shows that an apology plays a significant role in reducing a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Similarly, claimants interviewed by (Dahan 2017) gave reasons motivating lawsuit as a failure of physicians, to be honest about what exactly happened making the patients believe in explanations that were not true. Poor communication by physicians was also linked to litigation. The claimants disclosed that apologies from medical practitioners would help facilitate settlement of claims, and the patients would not seek legal advice if the medical professionals claimed responsibility for the medical malpractice, apologized, and gave detailed steps needed to prevent a recurrence. Most of the patients were less likely to file a lawsuit if the physicians informed them of the occurred errors than if the physicians never informed them.
Apologies and Physicians
Physicians are mostly affected by medical malpractices and get worried about harms caused to clients. They get anxious about the consequences of medical malpractices for their reputations and are afraid that patients will not trust them again. Besides, physicians experience distress, loss of confidence, and get anxious on the possibility of medical malpractice lawsuit. Numerous physicians express the need to make apologies following medical errors, but a disconnect between them and the patients on expectations and attitudes regarding communications after medical errors make them hesitant. Most healthcare professionals give minimal information about the occurrence, cause of the error through careful choice of words to avoid being explicit about the medical malpractice. Some of the care providers are of the view that clients should seek more information and get reluctant to make offers of compensations until patients file a medical malpractice lawsuit. Apologies in the wake of medical malpractice are beneficial, although a wide variation is evident in physician tendencies when medical errors occur. For instance, a survey of victims who filed suit reported not to have received explanations and apologies from the physicians. According to Phillips (2012), some medical and surgical physicians gave wide variations on whether to apologize after medical malpractices. Only a few of them indicated the need to show or express regret for adverse medical errors, while others said they would not offer any apology. The inclination for physicians to offer apologies after medical malpractices when the errors were less apparent to the victims, and in these scenarios, patients exhibited a high likelihood of filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. This explains the need for apologizing whenever medical malpractice occurs because such apologies have the potential to halt lawsuits.
Effective Apologies following a Medical Malpractice
As evident, apologies have capabilities of giving a good platform that helps address medical malpractice. In particular, it plays an essential role in disclosure conversations between healthcare professionals and victims. It is worth noting that not every apology is equal to the other. Besides, not all apologies are appropriate in all circumstances. Existing studies indicate that apologies that accept responsibilities are not only effective, but they also build trust between the physician and the client, making the client have no need to file a lawsuit. Sincerely offered expressions of sympathy have positive effects of apologies that accept responsibility. In addition, the studies reveal that apologies accompanied by compensations for the cost of medical care as well as the lost wages due to the injuries prove effective for reducing the likelihood of medical malpractice lawsuit. Most patients advocate for apologies that are sincerely offered because they are of benefit to doctors and patients. In most cases, when patients perceive such apologies to be insincere, they react with more indignation resulting in lawsuits (McMichael, 2015).
In conclusion, there is an increasing receptivity within the medical field to apologizing to victims whenever medical malpractices occur. Some medical institutions have enacted policies that advocate for apologizing in the event of medical errors and medical malpractices. For instance, Veteran Affairs Medical Center in Lexington, KY, discloses errors while offering appropriate apologies. As a result, there are good relations with clients and limited instances of a medical malpractice lawsuit. Besides, there are diminished litigation costs. This shows that whenever apologies are offered due to errors, patients refrain from filing medical malpractice lawsuits.
For this reason, medical schools have incorporated error disclosure and apologizing in their curriculum. They are educating students on the need to apologize. The students are embracing the vice terming it an excellent education undertaking. It is therefore clear that apologizing is an effective way physicians should respond to medical malpractices. Apologizing not only decreases blame and anger, but it also results in good relationships between the two. The most crucial thing about apologizing is the potentiality to diminish medical malpractice lawsuits.
Reference
Ho, B., & Liu, E. (2011). Does sorry work? The impact of apology laws on medical malpractice. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 43(2), 141.
McMichael, B. J. (2018). The Failure of Sorry: An Empirical Evaluation of Apology Laws, Health Care, and Medical Malpractice. Lewis & Clark L. Rev., 22, 1199.
Robbennolt, J. K. (2009). Apologies and medical error. Clinical orthopaedics and related research, 467(2), 376-382.
Nazione, S., & Pace, K. (2015). An experimental study of medical error explanations: do apology, empathy, corrective action, and compensation alter intentions and attitudes? Journal of health communication, 20(12), 1422-1432.
Dahan, S., Ducard, D., & Caeymaex, L. (2017). Apology in cases of medical error disclosure: Thoughts based on a preliminary study. PloS one, 12(7), e0181854.
Phillips-Bute, B. (2012). Transparency and disclosure of medical errors: It’s the right thing to do, so why the reluctance. Campbell L. Rev., 35, 333.