BACKGROUND: @entity1 want to know when errors happen in their care. Professional associations, ethicists, and @entity1 safety experts endorse disclosure of medical error to @entity1 . Surveys of physicians show that they believe harmful errors should be disclosed to @entity1 , yet errors are often not disclosed. OBJECTIVE: To understand the discrepancy between @entity1 ' expectations and physicians' behavior concerning @entity2246 . DESIGN, SETTING, AND @entity1 : We conducted focus groups to determine what constitutes disclosure of medical error. Twenty focus groups, 4 at each of 5 academic centers, included 204 hospital administrators, physicians, residents, and nurses. APPROACH: Qualitative analysis of the focus group transcripts with attention to examples of @entity2246 by clinicians and hospital administrators. RESULTS: Clinicians and administrators considered various forms of communication about errors to @entity2246 . Six elements of disclosure identified from focus group transcripts characterized disclosures ranging from Full disclosure (including admission of a mistake, discussion of the error, and a link from the error to harm) to @entity1625 , which included deferral, misleading statements, and inadequate information to "connect the dots." Descriptions involving nondisclosure of harmful errors were uncommon. CONCLUSIONS: Error disclosure may mean different things to clinicians than it does to @entity1 . The various forms of communication deemed @entity2246 by clinicians may explain the discrepancy between @entity2246 beliefs and behaviors. We suggest a @entity2246 to inform practical policies and interventions.

The many faces of XXXX : a common set of elements and a definition.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['Patients', 'patients', 'patient', 'PARTICIPANTS'] @entity1625 :: ('MESH:D004828', 'Disease') :: ['Partial disclosures'] @entity2246 :: ('MESH:D008661', 'Disease') :: ['error disclosure', 'be error disclosure', 'definition of error disclosure']
@entity2246 :: (MESH:D008661,Disease) :: ['error disclosure']
