Friday, February 03, 2006
More on Involving Families in Sentinel Events
Dan Ford’s request for input about involving families in the investigation of sentinel events drew the following response from previous contributor Don Arnwine:
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I found Dan Ford's comments provocative. I, too, have served and even chaired hospital Quality Assurance Committees. The idea of involving family in sentinel events never came up. If it had I think the first three questions would have been; "Will our attorney quit? and "Will our insurance company bail out? and "Will the attending physician have apoplexy?” I'm sure Dan has an answer for each. Seems to me the idea of involving family may not be absolute. There may be circumstances where it is appropriate and circumstances where it is not. If that makes sense then it would indicate that the first thing the QA Committee should do is to develop "Involvement Criteria" to recommend to the Board. I haven't seen Dan's presentation yet but I’m sure wouldn't do it without a policy from the board and hopefully also from the Medical Executive Committee. I would also like to know what the "Ethics" community would have to say. I would like to know if they consider it a "moral imperative." Thanks to Dan for raising the issue.
Dan Ford’s request for input about involving families in the investigation of sentinel events drew the following response from previous contributor Don Arnwine:
……………………….
I found Dan Ford's comments provocative. I, too, have served and even chaired hospital Quality Assurance Committees. The idea of involving family in sentinel events never came up. If it had I think the first three questions would have been; "Will our attorney quit? and "Will our insurance company bail out? and "Will the attending physician have apoplexy?” I'm sure Dan has an answer for each. Seems to me the idea of involving family may not be absolute. There may be circumstances where it is appropriate and circumstances where it is not. If that makes sense then it would indicate that the first thing the QA Committee should do is to develop "Involvement Criteria" to recommend to the Board. I haven't seen Dan's presentation yet but I’m sure wouldn't do it without a policy from the board and hopefully also from the Medical Executive Committee. I would also like to know what the "Ethics" community would have to say. I would like to know if they consider it a "moral imperative." Thanks to Dan for raising the issue.
