Talking with Patients and Families about Medical Error

Robert D. Truog, M.D., is a professor of medical ethics, anaesthesiology, and pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and a senior associate in Critical Care Medicine at Children's Hospital Boston. David M. Browning, M.S.W., B.C.D., F.T., is a senior scholar at the Institute for Professionalism and Ethical Practice at Children's Hospital Boston and a lecturer at Harvard Medical School. Judith A. Johnson, J.D., is an attorney, a clinical ethicist at Children's Hospital Boston, and a lecturer at Harvard Medical School. Thomas H. Gallagher, M.D., is a general internist and an associate professor in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. Research and practical application of the guidelines outlined in Talking with Patients and Families about Medical Error was funded primarily by CRICO, the medical malpractice insurer for the Harvard Medical Institutions.

Foreword, by Lucian L. Leape, M.D.
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Medical Error through the Eyes of Clinicians, Patients, and Families
2. What Is a Medical Error?
3. A Brief Overview of the Patient Safety Movement
4. Communicating about Adverse Events and Medical Error
5. Supporting Clinicians in Disclosure: The Coaching Model
6. Practice-Based Learning for Coaches and Clinicians
7. Practical Guidelines for Disclosure
8. Learning through Enacting
9. The Broad Spectrum of Adverse Events and Medical Error
10. Organizational Strategies for Improving Disclosure Practice
11. Future Directions and Closing Thoughts
Appendix: Practical Guidelines for Disclosure
Annotated Bibliography of Key Works
References
Index