Larry Smith and Rachel Leyko of MedStar Health explain Early Intervention, their journeys to advocacy and evidence of lowers costs and better outcomes for patients, families and clinicians.

Medical error resulting in patient injury may lead healthcare personnel to withdraw from patients and withhold information for fear of litigation. Early Intervention is an alternative approach in which physicians and health system staff quickly acknowledge an injury has occurred. By providing immediate assistance (without accepting blame) when not clearly at fault, patients are more collaborative than adversarial, and prompt medical care lessens future harm.