Frequency, expected effects, obstacles, and facilitators of disclosure of patient safety incidents: a systematic review.

Ock M, Lim SY, Jo MW, Lee SI. J Prev Med Public Health. 2017;50:68-82.

This systematic review of disclosure of patient safety incidents found variation in the frequency of event disclosure. Motivation for disclosure included fostering trust with patients, reducing negative impact on health care professionals, and decreasing the risk of malpractice. Barriers to disclosure included fear of lawsuits and blame and a suboptimal patient safety culture. These results suggest that error disclosure remains incompletely implemented.

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