Over the weekend, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published a long editorial about the "medical malpractice crisis" in Madison County, Illinois, titled "Illinois Malpractice: Is there a doctor in the house?" Among other things, the Post appeared open-minded about the "Sorry Works" program:
The state might also take a look at a program called "Sorry Works." Pioneered at Veterans Affairs hospitals, it calls for doctors and hospitals to admit their mistakes to patients, apologize and offer payment before lawsuits are filed. Advocates say it actually reduces payouts while easing the lives of patients.
Towards the end of the editorial, the Post rightly criticized another idea: "The state shouldn't subsidize malpractice premiums for doctors, as some Democrats suggest. As justifiably angry as they are about insurance rates, doctors still earn much more than the average citizen."
Evan: Kraman's 1999 paper suggests that VA had implemented the "Sorry" program system-wide, and calls for further study. Five years later, Kraman is giving speeches and writing op-eds referring to his 1999 paper's study of 1990-96 data (which I find considerably more ambiguous than his sales job of it), and says nothing about more recent VA experiences. I can't seem to find anything on the Web on the subject, but it's likely I'm not looking in the right place.
You're a pretty vocal advocate of the Kraman program. Do you know what happened? I'd love to find out, though I have my suspicions based on the Holmesian principle of the dog that didn't bark.
Posted by: Ted | April 15, 2004 at 03:39 AM