A new toolkit from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) helps health care organizations as well as providers better communicate with their patients and families if something wrong occurs during patient care.
The online resource is designed for health system leaders, clinicians, hospital leaders and other health professionals as they work directly, openly and accurately with patients and families.
"Medical harm can impact patients twice — first by the harm itself, and then by the wall of silence that can follow," AHRQ Director Andy Bindman said. "This toolkit helps foster honest and transparent communication in an effort to rebuild trust and support safer care for patients."
The new resource will broaden how people use the AHRQ communication and resolution process, called Communication and Optimal Resolution (CANDOR). This will help health leaders quickly respond to patient harm. It will also encourage empathetic, candid communication and resolution between caregivers and patients.
This toolkit is essential, as approximately one out of every 10 patients is somehow harmed because of patient care. This makes clear, effective communication vital to the care experience that patients receive.
"Every day in American hospitals, countless doctors, nurses and other caregivers perform miracles for patients,” Richard Pollack, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association, said. “And while one incident is one too many, sometimes errors occur. This toolkit helps everyone involved — patients, families, clinicians and administrators — discuss what happened, agree on a resolution and make care safer in the long run."
