Speaking Openly and Using CANDOR Is a Key to Communication

​In order to help providers facilitate communication when unexpected error leads to patient harm, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) released a new toolkit containing PowerPoint slides, videos, and other tools. The toolkit uses an AHRQ-developed resolution process known as Communication and**Optimal R**esolution (CANDOR), which was tested at 14 U.S. hospitals after being developed using input gleaned from the Patient Safety and Medical Liability grant initiative launched in 2009. The hope, AHRQ said, is that CANDOR can replace traditional "deny-and-defend" strategies, which avoid communication and admission of fault from providers. The toolkit is made up of eight modules. The first is an overview of the CANDOR process. The second discusses how to obtain organizational buy-in and support. Module 3 is about gap analysis.