Chairman Extols PLICO’s Apology Program

Apologies can help mend the physician-patient relationship and reduce claims for medical malpractice, notes Carl Hook, M.D., chairman and president of medical professional liability carrier Physicians Liability Insurance Company (PLICO), in a January 16, 2012, Insurance News Net article. The traditional response to an adverse outcome—ceasing communication with the patient and family—may anger patients and make them feel that the physician is hiding something. Patients usually get only about 35% to 40% of the jury award, and resolution of medical professional liability cases takes five and a half years, on average, after the date they are filed. PLICO is training physicians to apologize and contact the carrier immediately after an event. The training is not required, but about half of PLICO’s insured physicians have completed it.