The results of a survey reveal that hospital staff members fail to let patients know of an error in their care more than 50% of the time, but patients rate their care as being better if they are informed about errors.

The telephone survey, led by a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, polled more than 2,500 patients who had been a patient at one of 16 Massachusetts hospitals during 2003. They were questioned about any errors that occurred during their time at the facilities, and whether there were any lasting effects.

The researchers came to the conclusion that patients may equate the disclosure of errors with higher quality healthcare. Although four out of ten errors were found to have been disclosed to patients, those patients who said they were told of errors were twice as likely to rate their care as being high quality. Harm that required additional treatment was more likely to be discussed than other events. Besides that, patients were less likely to be told about preventable medical errors than unavoidable problems.

This research shows us that the disclosure of errors is not only ethically correct but, if done well, can lead to higher levels of patient trust, increased perceptions of quality, and perhaps even lower clinical risk.

Source: The Boston Globe