Medical Error Disclosure in Healthcare – The Scene across Canada

The quality of healthcare is an emerging concern worldwide. Despite the advancement in the medical field, adverse events resulting from medical errors are relatively common in healthcare systems. Disclosure of an adverse event is an important element in managing the consequences of a medical error. We have previously reviewed and compared various disclosure policies that are in practice in Canada and around the globe to analyze the progress made in this area and suggested a non-punitive, “no-fault” model for reporting medical errors. The purpose of this study was to review and compare the disclosure policies implemented by individual health authorities across the Canadian provinces and territories. We evaluated each policy based on the inclusion of the following key points: Apology, avoidance of blame, avoidance of speculation, immediate disclosure, patient support, provider support, provider training, team-based approach, accessibility, and documentation. The clinical significance of the study was to evaluate various health authorities’ policies of disclosure and report a practice model for medical error disclosure across Canada. The three top parameters found within the disclosure policies include an apology or expression of regret, a team-based approach and documentation of disclosure, all three averaging at 98% respectively across the provinces and territories. The bottom two parameters found within the disclosure policies include provider training and accessibility of disclosure policy through the health authorities’ website, both averaging at 34% respectively. We believe healthcare providers' top priority should be correcting flaws in the medical system and protecting patients' health. Despite the obstacles, physicians should seek to disclose medical errors to patients and their families on both ethical and pragmatic grounds. We believe that the disclosure policies can provide framework and guidelines for appropriate disclosure, which can lead to improved quality care and practices that are more transparent. We suggest that disclosure practice can be improved by creating a uniform policy, centered on honest disclosure and addressing errors in a non-punitive manner.