Transparency, Apology and Disclosure of Adverse Outcomes

Medical errors became a common topic of conversation with the release of the Institute of Medicine's “To Err Is Human” in November of 1999. This release reported that as many as 98,000 people die each year from inpatient medical errors. Putting this into perspective, deaths from medical errors surpassed deaths from breast cancer, motor vehicle accidents, and AIDS. Furthermore, medication errors account for more deaths annually than workplace injuries. This article addresses communication of adverse outcomes to patients (disclosure) through transparency and apology.