Example of an Apology

The following is an example of how the physician might deliver an apology to Mrs. Cooper.

"Mrs. Cooper, I am so sorry that you have fallen and fractured your hip during your hospital stay. We all feel terrible this has happened to you. One of the reasons you fell was because you were dizzy from low blood pressure. The continuation of your home blood pressure dose may have caused this, and are looking into how this occured. We will examine our processes in detail and make systematic changes to decrease the chances that this will ever happen again. I addition, we will be meeting to address the additional costs that will occur because of the fracture. Again, we are all very sorry this has happened to you and you are suffering because of this error."

At the end of the conversation, plans to follow up should be offered:

"I'd like to follow up with a phone call tomorrow to see if you have any further questions."