This looks like a double whammy of bad scholarship and bad reporting. Looking at the effect of apology laws vis a vis litigation outcomes is like correlating the number of pizza places in close proximity to overweight people and concluding it must be the pizza. How about correlating the amount and type of pizza consumed with the test group and the control group? Taking one insurer’s results also skews the findings because individual carriers handle claims very differently and one carrier’s approach may not jibe with the concept of apology in the context of medical errors. For apologies to work it requires a coordinated effort of multiple parties working in tandem and providing a just solution to the error in lieu of litigation. Apology legislation is little more than a footnote impacting the outcome. Additionally, it appears they acknowledge that there are organizations out there getting it right with proper training, but then how do they completely ignore that in their main conclusion, i.e., that “Sorry NEVER works.”? I could go on but bottom line – a hatchet job by hacks, if you ask me.
Of course the explanation of what went wrong helps. You can’t go up to someone and say I’m sorry. You say I’m sorry because this is what happened, in the future I’m going to do this so that it doesn’t happen again. If you just say you’re sorry people are going to sue you so that they can get a huge payout and that you don’t hurt other people in our ‘pack.’
Obamacare needs no apologies. If it did then conservatives would turn down ALL INSURANCE coverage for preexisting illnesses and for health care for their kids from 18 to 26 because you HAVE TO THANK OBAMA for those benefits.
No data or statistical set should deter a provider from apologizing. It is not always about the money or reducing the risk of a claim. It is about having showing compassion and human dignity. Perhaps if there was a little more of that in the world we wouldn’t have so many claims.
This looks like a double whammy of bad scholarship and bad reporting. Looking at the effect of apology laws vis a vis litigation outcomes is like correlating the number of pizza places in close proximity to overweight people and concluding it must be the pizza. How about correlating the amount and type of pizza consumed with the test group and the control group? Taking one insurer’s results also skews the findings because individual carriers handle claims very differently and one carrier’s approach may not jibe with the concept of apology in the context of medical errors. For apologies to work it requires a coordinated effort of multiple parties working in tandem and providing a just solution to the error in lieu of litigation. Apology legislation is little more than a footnote impacting the outcome. Additionally, it appears they acknowledge that there are organizations out there getting it right with proper training, but then how do they completely ignore that in their main conclusion, i.e., that “Sorry NEVER works.”? I could go on but bottom line – a hatchet job by hacks, if you ask me.
Of course the explanation of what went wrong helps. You can’t go up to someone and say I’m sorry. You say I’m sorry because this is what happened, in the future I’m going to do this so that it doesn’t happen again. If you just say you’re sorry people are going to sue you so that they can get a huge payout and that you don’t hurt other people in our ‘pack.’
Doctors have been apologizing for Obamacare for years.
Obamacare needs no apologies. If it did then conservatives would turn down ALL INSURANCE coverage for preexisting illnesses and for health care for their kids from 18 to 26 because you HAVE TO THANK OBAMA for those benefits.
No data or statistical set should deter a provider from apologizing. It is not always about the money or reducing the risk of a claim. It is about having showing compassion and human dignity. Perhaps if there was a little more of that in the world we wouldn’t have so many claims.