A month ago, we blogged about a medical center that had cut its number of malpractice claims and reduced its backlog of open claims by admitting mistakes upfront and offering compensation before being sued.
Today, a Wall Street Journal article shows this is a growing trend. According to the Journal, "... some hospitals like Baptist Children's are taking steps to admit grievous mistakes and to learn from them in order to overhaul flawed procedures. That represents a sharp departure from hospitals' traditional response when something goes terribly wrong -- retreating behind a wall of silence to guard against potential lawsuits.
"Now, some hospitals are hoping to stem the tide of lawsuits by being more open with aggrieved patients and their families. While some experts warn that disclosure will lead to an increase in litigation and costs, there are some indications that patients are less likely to sue if they receive full disclosure and an apology, along with an offer of compensation. But longer term, some administrators say the solution is to improve hospital safety records."
Another hospital cited in the story, University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago, has had a policy since 2006 of fully disclosing medical errors, apologizing when they occur, and swiftly offering a financial settlement.
During the past four years, the number of lawsuits against the center is down 40% compared to the period between 1999 and 2004, even though the number of procedures increased 23%, according to the Journal. The chief safety officer for the hospital told the paper that while he can't say for sure that the disclosure problem was responsible for the decreases, "we can certainly say that it has not caused an increase in lawsuits or payouts."