Supporting Second Victims of Patient Safety Events: Shouldn't These Communications Be Covered by Legal Privilege?

We examined the laws governing the admissibility of these communications in 5 states, and address how the laws might affect participation in programs designed to support health care workers involved in adverse events. We found that privilege is uneven from stateto‐ state, and also unclear. Ambiguity alone could have a chilling effect on Second Victim programs. We propose legislation to protect volunteer and health care worker communications provided by peer counselors, or failing this, updating of statutory provisions to explicitly include these communications within the ambit of existing protections. Enhancing protections could help to foster an environment of healing for both patients and caregivers.
Source: The Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics - Category: Medical Law Authors: Tags: Independents Source Type: research