The Many Faces of Error Disclosure: A Common Set of Elements and a Definition

Responding to patient safety incidents: the "seven pillars"

“…PCCS members are available at the request of a provider to facilitate communication with a patient or family for any reason, and providers are expected to ask a PCCS member to be present during a full disclosure. PCCS members help to ensure that the disclosure includes “an apology for any unreasonable care, what happened, and the link between the unreasonable care and outcomes in a manner that is meaningful to the patient”17 and to ensure the quality of the disclosure process.…”

Disclosing Harmful Medical Errors to Patients

“…A growing number of articles in the literature [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] explores the issue of disclosing harmful medical errors to patients, emphasizing the importance of full disclosure and documenting the gap between this principle and current practice. One potential explanation for this gap is that health-care workers and institutions recognize that disclosure is "the right thing to do" but lack the moral courage to do what needs to be done.…”

To lie or not to lie: resident physician attitudes about the use of deception in clinical practice

“…Fein et al 12 described the disclosure patients desire including admission of the error, the proximate effects, and any harm caused. Lying about a medical error may save the physician from a malpractice suit, but could also result in further harm to the patient.…”