Sorry Works! Pilot Program Passes Illlinois General Assembly - Medical Malpractice Crisis Solution

Main Category: Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Article Date: 02 Jun 2005 - 18:00 PDT

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Illinois is set to become the first state to enact a Sorry Works! pilot program as a solution to the medical malpractice crisis with the passage of Illinois Senate Bill 475 this week. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has indicated that he will sign the legislation into law.

The pilot program allows two Illinois hospitals to try Sorry Works! risk-free for a two-year period. The bi-partisan legislation was backed by The Sorry Works! Coalition, a national organization dedicated to educating doctors and hospitals about the value of apologies and upfront compensation in reducing lawsuits, liability costs, and medical errors.

"We're thrilled that Sorry Works! passed the Illinois General Assembly. This provides important exposure for our efforts and extra incentives for doctors and hospitals to try Sorry Works," said Doug Wojcieszak, spokesperson for the Sorry Works! Coalition.

Under SB 475, the State of Illinois will establish a committee of medical, insurance, and legal experts to administer the Sorry Works! pilot program. The committee will determine if lawsuits and liability costs increase, remain the same, or are reduced with Sorry Works! The State of Illinois will cover the difference in costs between the new norm and the old norm if costs rise; however, if lawsuits and costs go down under Sorry Works, the hospitals will enjoy the savings and the State of Illinois won't incur any costs.

"Lawsuits and costs have dropped in every hospital that has tried Sorry Works, so we expect more of the same here in Illinois with our pilot hospitals," added Wojcieszak.

Under Sorry Works, doctors and hospital staff conduct root cause analyses after every bad outcome, and if a medical error caused the bad outcome, the doctors and hospital staff members apologize, provide solutions to fix the problem, and offer upfront compensation to the patient, family and their attorney(s). This approach removes anger and actually reduces the chances of litigation and costly defense litigation bills. The program has worked successfully at hospitals such as the University of Michigan Hospital system, Stanford Medical Center, Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, and the VA Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky.

Wojcieszak is careful to caution that hospitals and doctors in Illinois and elsewhere don't need the pilot program to try Sorry Works!

"The pilot program simply provides an extra incentive for hospitals to try this approach and it removes the excuses of the doubters, but the benefits of Sorry Works - lower lawsuits, liability costs, and medical errors - should be incentive enough to try this approach. That is why we have seen several hospital already adopt Sorry Works! on their own, and more can do so without waiting for state or federal legislators," said Wojcieszak.

The Sorry Works! Coalition will now work to develop programs in other states and will also be working with federal legislators to develop incentives for doctors and hospitals to adopt Sorry Works.

"Illinois is a good first step, but we have much work to do in other states and at the federal level," concluded Wojcieszak.

To learn more about The Sorry Works! Coalition, visit http://www.sorryworks.net.

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