Emergency physicians and disclosure of medical errors.
Error in medicine is a subject of continuing interest among physicians, patients, policymakers, and the general public. This article examines the issue of disclosure of medical errors in the context of emergency medicine. It reviews the concept of medical error; proposes the professional duty of truthfulness as a justification for error disclosure; examines barriers to error disclosure posed by health care systems, patients, physicians, and the law; suggests system changes to address the issue of medical error; offers practical guidelines to promote the practice of error disclosure; and discusses the issue of disclosure of errors made by another physician.
Moskop
John C
JC
Department of Medical Humanities, The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27834, USA. moskopj@mail.ecu.edu
Geiderman
Joel M
JM
Hobgood
Cherri D
CD
Larkin
Gregory L
GL
D003142:Communication; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics; D017751:Safety Management / Q000941:ethics; D014342:Truth Disclosure / Q000941:ethics*