Hospital staff and physicians who are willing to explain, apologize for and resolve adverse medical events significantly reduce legal defense and liability costs, according to a study led by Dr. Florence R. LeCraw, an Atlanta anesthesiologist and adjunct professor at Georgia State University.

LeCraw and economist Thomas Mroz of Georgia State’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, health economist Daniel Montanera from the J. Mack Robinson College of Businessand medical and risk management experts from the Erlanger Health System in Chattanooga, Tenn., examined 12 years of data (2004-2015) at Erlanger, a five-hospital system that treats 600,000 patients annually. Doctors at Erlanger are not employed by the hospital, and they purchase their own professional liability insurance.

The study, published this year in the Journal of Patient Safety and Risk Management, found that Erlanger’s Communication and Resolution Program (CRP), initiated in January 2009, led to a 66 percent reduction in legal claims filed, a 51 percent reduction in defense costs and a 53 percent reduction in the time required to close cases. No medical error occurred in 65 percent of the adverse events reported.

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