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Radical Idea for Med-Mal Cases: Apologize

By Robert J. Ambrogi

If love means never having to say you're sorry, a medical mistake means never daring to say it. Fear of a lawsuit keeps doctors and other medical professionals from ever admitting they messed up. But as Associated Press writer David N. Goodman reports, a Michigan hospital is defying the conventional wisdom, admitting mistakes and offering compensation well before patients file lawsuits. In taking this approach, the hospital has achieved something remarkable -- significant savings in money and time, not to mention the gratitude of its patients. "What we are doing is common decency," lawyer Richard C. Boothman, chief risk officer for the University of Michigan Health System, tells AP. Common decency, it turns out, makes good business sense. By adopting a policy of open and honest disclosure, the system has seen the number of malpractice claims against it drop by half, from 136 in 1999 to 61 in 2006. Boothman provides more details about his system's approach in an article he and four colleagues published earlier this year in the Journal of Health & Life Sciences Law and also in 2006 testimony he gave before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Notably, Boothman says that he...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on September 03, 2009 (boomark / email).