ABSTRACT
Metrics such as infection rates can be interpreted as a means to adjudge the existence of persistent error. The center for medical services mandates data collection, analyses of which partly determine whether physicians are permitted to practice in hospitals and clinics. Faulty communication is among the most common underlying causes of medical error and can lead directly to the breakdown of a therapeutic patient–physician relationship. Expressing regret for the patient’s situation, even when the case was not created by a medical error, shows a sense of compassion and understanding of the pain, anxiety, or fear the patient is experiencing. By placing the patient’s best interest their own, physicians can offer a sincere apology and, when necessary, begin the healing process and ask the patients forgiveness. In 2001, the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organization required hospitals and health care organizations to disclose unanticipated outcomes of care or treatment to the patient and, when appropriate, to the family.
