Disclosing medical errors: The view from the USA

BackgroundDisclosure is increasingly seen as a key component of efforts to improve safety, but does not yet reliably occur in all organizations in the U.S.ApproachWe describe the experience to date with disclosure in the U.S. and illustrate the issues with specific clinical examples. Both reputational and legal concerns represent substantial barriers. The evidence to date—mostly from single sites – shows that not only is disclosure the right thing to do, it also appears to decrease malpractice risk. We also discuss the related issue of compensation—practices around this vary greatly. Underlying the push for greater disclosure is also the belief that better disclosure results in an improved culture of safety, which in turn may improve the quality and safety of care.ConclusionsProviders have an ethical imperative to disclosure error to patients, and the limited available evidence shows that doing so actually decreases malpractice risk. While disclosure is not yet routine practice in the U.S., the approach is clearly gaining momentum. Telling patients what happened is not enough. They also deserve an apology, and if harmed, to be made whole emotionally and financially. Greater disclosure may not only help individual patients, but may also help with improving safety overall.