Communication, resolution and apology programs gain momentum

A new patient safety measure from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services brings renewed attention to the value of using a communication and resolution approach to meet the needs of patients and families after harm events. 

Acceptance of this approach has reached a “tipping point,” according to Melinda Van Niel, M.B.A., Betsy Lehman Center’s Program Director for CARe, which stands for Communication, Apology and Resolution. 

Communication and resolution programs (CRPs) such as CARe are expected to draw additional interest in Massachusetts and across the country, Van Niel says, after new expectations were set in a patient safety structural measure from CMS asking hospitals to attest to their investment in an “evidence-based communication and resolution program.”

CARe includes the elements CMS says should be part of a CRP: open and ongoing communication with patients and families; harm event investigation, prevention, and learning; clinician support; and appropriate resolution (financial and non-financial) for patients and families, she notes.

“In Massachusetts, CARe has reached a tipping point,” says Van Niel. “Most organizations know and accept that this is what they should do when something has gone wrong in a patient’s care,” she says.  “The next question is, ‘How do we do it?’” 

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Source: Betsy Lehman Center, 18 September 2024