My name is Gail Mazur Handley. I was a dancer, choreographer, and teacher before a medical error changed my life. (See “My Story”) Now my focus is on collecting stories from other patients who have been harmed at a hospital with a disclosure program. These programs have gone by a variety of names but now are usually called communication and resolution programs, or CRPs.
However, it is quite possible that you don’t know if your hospital had a CRP. In that case, please write to gail@disclosuregaps.com and tell me the name of the hospital and the year the injury occurred. I’ll call the hospital and, without using your name, try to find out for you — it can’t hurt to have this information and it may lead somewhere.
My intention is to put a public spotlight on the flaws in these programs with the goal of pressuring hospitals to fix them. But my story alone is not enough. I need to show that other patients and families are continuing to be harmed by these same flaws or gaps. If you want to help provoke change in the way these programs are being implemented, please tell me about your experience.
If you’re not comfortable providing your name and other specifics, feel free to tell your story anonymously. In any case, all identifying details will remain confidential.
Consider including some discussion of the following:
- Describe the error.
- Did the hospital disclose the error?
- If the hospital disclosed the error, do you feel they did it “promptly” and did they answer all of your questions?
- Do you know if the medical facility had a CRP in effect at the time?
- If the hospital had a CRP, did they inform you about it? In what way? Did you receive any written documentation describing the program like a pamphlet or a patient information handout? If so, when did you receive it? Did a hospital employee inform you about the program? OR, did you leave the hospital without knowing that they had a disclosure program?
- Did the hospital tell you that you could use a lawyer? Did you use one? If not, do you now regret it?
- Did you participate in a mediation? If not, why not? If so, is there anything you’d like to say about it?
- Did you receive an apology? If so, did it make a difference to you? Did it affect your decision about whether to pursue your complaint?
- Do you feel that you received fair compensation? If not, why do you think that happened?
- Was there enough time between the occurrence of the error, and the time you had to decide if the compensation offered by the hospital was fair? How much time do you think should be allowed?
- Did you sign a confidentiality agreement — also called a non-disclosure agreement or NDA?
- Do you feel that in your case, the CRP worked?
- Is there anything else you would like to add?
Using as much space as you want, please send your true story to gail@disclosuregaps.com.
Many thanks,
Gail Mazur Handley