■ Physician-patient:

Communicating effectively with patients to optimize their care

Disclosing harm from healthcare delivery

Young male physician having a conversation with a male patient.

Navigating patient safety incident disclosure discussions

20 minutes

Published: March 2021

Learning objectives

Upon completion, you will be able to:

  1. Recognize a physician’s obligation to disclose a harmful patient safety incident.
  2. Describe types of patient safety incidents in healthcare.
  3. List key steps to planning, initiating, and documenting a disclosure discussion.

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Accreditation

Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC)

This activity is an Accredited Self-Assessment Program (Section 3) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and approved by the CMPA. You may claim a maximum of 0.5 hour (credits are automatically calculated).

The College of Family Physicians Canada (CFPC)

This online 2-credit-per-hour Assessment program has been certified by the College of Family Physicians of Canada for up to 1 Mainpro+ credit.

Disclosure

Scientific Planning Committee: Dr. Eileen Bridges1, Dr. Shirley Lee1, Dr. Steven Bellemare1, Dr. Katherine Larivière1, Dr. Tino Piscione1, Dr. Richard Mimeault1, Dr. Robert Johnston1, Dr. Liisa Honey1, Dr. Janet Nuth1, Ms. Tunde Gondocz1

Employees of: 1. Paid employee of the CMPA

Conflict of Interest: The members of the Scientific Planning Committee have no financial or professional affiliation with any organization that can be perceived as a conflict of interest in the context of this online program.

CanMEDS: Professional, Communicator

DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this learning material is for general educational purposes only and is not intended to provide specific professional medical or legal advice, nor to constitute a "standard of care" for Canadian healthcare professionals. The use of CMPA learning resources is subject to the foregoing as well as the CMPA's Terms of Use.