Patient Safety Primer Highlights Trends in Disclosing Errors to Patients

Patients and physicians have different concepts of what matters most when it comes to learning about disclosing an error, according to a Patient Safety Primer available on AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network (PSNet). Patients want disclosure of all harmful errors, an explanation of why the error occurred, a sense of how the error’s effect will be minimized, and the steps the physician and health care organization will take to prevent them from recurring. While most physicians agree in theory that an error should be fully disclosed, more than half supported “partial disclosure” in practice, by mentioning the adverse event without discussing their role in the error or its effect on patient health. Learn more about recent guidelines, trends, and ongoing research that’s available to help physicians and health care organizations disclose errors to patients appropriately. Select to access the full patient safety primer, titled Error Disclosure.