Stonewalling versus Honesty: A Lesson for Corporate Bloggers

At the Seattle Summit, Mitch Ratcliffe made an excellent point about malpractice suits and open dialog. He mentioned studies that indicate lawsuits can be reduced by honest admission of error. I had been meaning to study this further, and finally found time this weekend to gather additional data. The article “Why some doctors get sued more than others” reinforces the case for the honest blogging.

Grena Porto, director of risk management for VHA, an alliance of more than 2,200 hospitals was quoted in the piece: “Patients will often forgive honest mistakes when they’re disclosed promptly, fully, and compassionately,” says Porto. “But they become enraged when they suspect they’re being stonewalled.”

Also, stressed in the article was how appropriate “people skills” can diffuse many potential conflicts. Anyone who reads Scoble can tell you that a nice person representing an organization can do wonders.