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April 17, 2009 NEWSLETTER
Doug Wojcieszak, Founder & Spokesperson
Contact phone/e-mail address: 618-559-8168; doug@sorryworks.net
THIS WEEK'S EDITION:
SORRY WORKS! EDITORIAL: Physician Fear Factor
Audio Conference a Great Success - CDs Available!
Planting seeds in Cleveland and New Jersey; back to California
Sorry Works! Books a Best Seller?
SORRY WORKS! EDITORIAL: PHYSICIAN FEAR FACTOR
The disclosure movement is really gaining steam. We are doing more and more training, people continue to buy the Sorry Works! Book, and success stories are becoming more and more prevalent. Just a few weeks ago two major hospitals in New Jersey – New Jersey! – reported successes with Sorry Works! In fact, one of the hospitals said they have cut their lawsuits by half.
Yet, with all this positive momentum a large amount of fear remains with physicians. A common saying in the disclosure movement is "Get the leadership of the hospital or insurer to buy-in, and disclosure will happen. If, however, the C-suite doesn't buy-in, it will never happen." This statement is true, but physicians are a critical - absolutely critical - piece of the puzzle too. We must get them bought in to A) speed disclosure where the leadership of a hospital or insurer has approved disclosure or B) change the hearts and minds of leaders who do not accept disclosure.
We need to calm the fear felt by physicians. These fears are not unreasonable, and often are not creation of doctors themselves. Physicians have had deny and defend drummed into their brains starting in medical school and throughout their career by a plethora of defense lawyers, risk managers, claims experts, and c- suite personnel. Moreover, physicians have traditionally been ostracized and left with little support when being sued. Finally, physicians have been burned too often when the medicine is defensible but they are forced to settle a case.
Herein lays our openings to work with physicians: Sorry Works! is all about providing support. It's a support program for not only patients and families, but also docs!!
Any good disclosure program starts with training and education - the training needed to not only calm fears but also help docs make this 180 degree change. Hospitals and insurers need to provide the resources to docs 1) understand why disclosure is good for them as well as their patients and families and 2) teach them how to do Sorry Works! At Sorry Works! we can help with this training. Just give us a call at 618-559-8168 or e-mail doug@sorryworks.net for more information.
With this training, physicians will be able to provide empathy ("I'm sorry this happened) and good customer service in the immediate aftermath of an adverse event. Then, working in concert with the hospital and/or insurer and defense counsel, conduct a credible investigation to determine if a mistake happened - or not. The physician needs to understand that a team of trained people - training in crisis communication - will join him/her in delivering the results of the investigation to the family. Furthermore, if a mistake did happen, this team will help the physician work through the process of providing economic and non-economic compensation to the patient/family. Finally, if a lawsuit is initiated (either because there is a disagreement about the standard of care or the value of damages), physicians must understand that this program will create great evidence for a strong defense. Cases of defensible medicine will not be settled, and cases where mistakes did happen will be merely be argued on the damages without the horror stories of arrogant, aloof physicians.
Teaching docs that Sorry Works! is a program is a must...a physician in New Jersey last night before a Sorry Works! presentation said he was skeptical that "sorry" would stop a lawsuit if he made a mistake. This well-meaning physician did not understand Sorry Works! is a program that docs use with their insurer/hospital to work with patients/families to fix problems in a pro-active fashion, thus lessening the need for litigation. After the Sorry Works! presentation, the same doctor told Sorry Works! Founder Doug Wojcieszak that he was now a believer in Sorry Works!
Finally, physicians need to understand that any good Sorry Works! program provides emotional support and other forms of assistance for providers struggling to deal with an error. Physicians are the second victims of a medical error - and they help too! Sorry Works! provides it.
The take-home message for docs is that Sorry Works! is all about providing them support. This is not "say you're sorry and we'll cancel your coverage." No, this is working with your insurer/hospital and defense counsel in a more proactive fashion, expedited fashion to provide answer and - when necessary - a genuine apology to a patient/family.
AUDIO CONFERENCE A GREAT SUCCESS - CDS AVAILABLE
Last week's much-publicized Sorry Works! Audio Conference with the University of Illinois Medical Center was a great success. Drs. McDonald and Mayer did a wonderful job providing an overview of their successful disclosure program and how they train their staff, residents, and students on disclosure. Furthermore, this audio conference was a little different than the average conference in that our speakers welcomed audience participation at several points in the program. We had some very meaningful discussion.
CDs of the audio conference are available for purchase at $249 per copy - it's a great teaching tool. Simply e-mail doug@sorryworks.net or call 618-559-8168.
PLANTING SEEDS IN CLEVELAND AND NEW JERSEY; BACK TO CALIFORNIA
Immediately after hosting last week's audio conference, Sorry Works! Founder Doug Wojcieszak hopped on a plane for Cleveland to speak at a special symposium on apology and forgiveness hosted by Case Western Reserve Law School. This was the first presentation for Sorry Works! in the Cleveland area, and the law school opened the event to the community. We had members of the medical community and plaintiff's bar in attendance, and some very good discussion ensued. Audience members from both sides understood the discussion needed to continue in Cleveland and more training on Sorry Works! was necessary - we are hopeful for future trips to the area.
Sorry Works! also made another trip to New Jersey yesterday for another successful CME dinner speech to insured physicians of a major med-mal carrier. There is a lot of momentum for disclosure in the Garden State, and we are excited to keep planting seeds there. The doctors were very receptive to our message.
Sorry Works! is headed to California today to speak to the Southern California Hospital Association. Every member of today's audience will receive a copy of the Sorry Works! Book.
To schedule your own Sorry Works! presentation, call 618-559-8168 or e-mail doug@sorryworks.net.
SORRY WORKS! BOOK - A BEST SELLER?
The Sorry Works! Book was self-published through Author House - and this week we learned that the Sorry Works! Book is one of the all- time - if not the all-time - best sellers for Author House. We have sold over 10,000 copies of the book and sales are not slowing down. Perhaps it's the price (just $24.99 per copy) or the length (just 103 pages) of this "how to" manual on disclosure, but the book is very popular. Find out why by ordering your own copy today. To order individual copies visit this link: http://www.sorryworks.net/booksoon.phtml. To make a bulk purchase, e-mail doug@sorryworks.net or call 618- 559-8168.
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