FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Shara Cohen
415-378-1633
shara@elmexchange.com

ELM EXCHANGE LAUNCHES NEW ONLINE COURSE
FOCUSED ON DISCLOSURE OF ADVERSE EVENTS
Online curriculum provides guidance on approach for physicians disclosing unexpected outcomes

Rockville, MD - January 7, 2004 - Education in Legal Medicine (ELM), the leading provider of Internet-based risk management education for the healthcare industry, today announced the launch of a new web-based course to educate healthcare providers about the rationale and technique for disclosing unexpected medical outcomes.

This course is designed to provide healthcare providers with a practical understanding of how disclosures can be made to mitigate the potential damage of an unexpected outcome or medical error.

The course addresses disclosure from a number of different perspectives. First, it recognizes the awkwardness of making a disclosure. It then addresses the legal responsibility to do so, and the fact that legal protections such as the statutes of limitations may be abrogated if information is withheld. When an unanticipated outcome is the result of systemic failures, the stigma that disclosure is an admission of guilt may be overcome by teaching physicians a practical and effective method for making a disclosure.

Course development was undertaken with the support of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (WFUBMC). Cynthia Stow, WFUBMC Risk Manager, served as an advisor for course development, providing important input and critical feedback. The course has been launched at WFUBMC, which has been using other ELM courseware since 2002, and is required for all new attending and resident physicians.

“Disclosing an unexpected outcome can be exhausting and time-consuming, especially for a healthcare provider who feels personally helpless or exposed. But just meeting with the patient and their family makes a real difference when expectations have not been met,” said Ms. Stow. “This course is critical for physicians in preparing them for these difficult conversations and making them more comfortable with their responsibilities. Working with ELM to develop and customize this to our own needs, has been most beneficial in addressing patient safety standards and creating a culture of safety in our organization.”

Patients are more likely to sue a physician who withholds information that surfaces through another avenue or if the physician informed them that a mistake did not result in permanent aftereffects.

Like all ELM Courseware, this new course employs a problem based learning method. It presents clinical situations to demonstrate the importance of the disclosure process. It explains the relationship of this process to important topics including statute of limitations, fraudulent concealment, and empathic reflection.

About Education in Legal Medicine
For more than 15 years, Education in Legal Medicine (ELM) has provided a unified educational curriculum for health care providers aimed at lowering the risk of compensable harm to patients. Its substantive curriculum provides administrators with a solution to addressing risk and liability within their organizations, and a CME alternative not bound by geographic or time constraints. ELM courseware is currently in use in many of top medical facilities in the country, including New York Presbyterian, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Yale-New Haven Hospital, Westchester Medical Center, and the SUNY system.