There is a generally held belief within the medical community that admitting medical errors only angers patients and leads to more medical malpractice lawsuits. But what if the opposite is true? A new study suggests that many patients and their families actually appreciate it when the medical community responds to mistakes with honesty.

The study by the University of Michigan Health System found that there were many positive trends initiated by medical professionals accepting responsibility for medical errors. Fewer medical malpractice claims were filed, those claims cost less to resolve and the amount of time to resolve those claims was shorter.

What did doctors do differently?

The study involved a new program that encouraged medical professionals to follow this procedure:

  • Explain who made the error, how it occurred and what steps were taken to prevent similar mistakes in the future.
  • Apologize to the patient and family.
  • Offer to provide fair compensation for the harm done.

This was a significant departure from previous practices in which medical professionals denied responsibility for mistakes, hired a lawyer and hoped for the best.

What was the result?

Researchers analyzed medical malpractice claims that were filed before and after the program was initiated. They found a number of interesting improvements:

Monthly new medical malpractice claims fell by 36 percent. The average time to resolve those claims dropped by several months. And the cost to resolve those claims fell by almost 60 percent.

There is one key factor in explaining these results. Determining who is responsible for a medical error takes time and money.

Many times, medical malpractice lawsuits involve extensive research to determine where the fault lies for the medical error. When medical professionals accept responsibility from the outset, this expensive step in the legal process can be eliminated, or at least drastically reduced.

Source: HealthDay, "When Doctors Admit Mistakes, Fewer Malpractice Suits Result, Study Says," Jenifer Goodwin, 17 Aug 2010