AHRQ Communication and Optimal Resolution (CANDOR) Toolkit.

Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; May 2016.

Traditionally, health systems have disclosed adverse events to patients only through a lengthy process that involves providing limited information to patients and families, avoiding admissions of fault, and emphasizing protection of the clinicians involved. This approach may harm safety culture and has been criticized as not being patient-centered. Some pioneering institutions, such as the University of Michigan Health System, began implementing an alternative approach known as "communication and resolution," which emphasizes early disclosure of adverse events and proactive attempts to reach an amicable solution. Early adopters of this method have achieved notable results, including a decline in malpractice lawsuits. The CANDOR toolkit, developed by AHRQ as part of the Medical Liability Reform and Patient Safety Initiative, provides tools for health care organizations to implement a communication-and-resolution program. The toolkit includes videos, slides, and teaching materials, and it has been tested in 14 hospitals in several different states. A PSNet interviewwith the chief risk officer of the University of Michigan Health System discusses the organization's pioneering efforts to implement a communication-and-response system.

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