The patient safety film “The Faces of Medical Error from Tears to Transparency…The Story of Lewis Blackman” was shown this morning to international patient safety leaders, patient advocates, medical educators and 20 medical student leaders from across the US. The award winning film kicked off the Seventh Annual Telluride Patient Safety Educaitonal Roundtable. This years Roundtable continues the discussions and consensus building from the previous two years on the need for Open, Honest and Professional Communication between caregivers and patients/families related to unanticipated patient care outcomes. Helen Haskell, the mother of Lewis Blackman, along with Tim McDonald and Dave Mayer led interactive discussions with attendees after the film on (1) why honest communication in healthcare has been lacking and (2) the positive changes that have been observed by health sytems who have adopted a culture of open, honest and professional communication after unanticipated outcomes occur. Rick Boothman from the University of Michigan will join Tim McDonald in facilitating the afternoon’s open and honest communication educational session on “Where we are and how we got here”.
