Elton John isn't the only one who finds "sorry" to be the hardest word. Healthcare providers--at the behest of their attorneys and risk managers--have been known to remain tight-lipped when mistakes are made.

But the industry has made great strides in recent years. So much so, that the Huffington Post has suggested that rage-bent rapper Chris Brown--who recently went ballistic after a television reporter asked him about his "incident" with ex-girlfriend Rihanna--look to the healthcare industry for inspiration on making amends.

Noting that Brown has yet to show "any true remorse," HuffPost blogger Keli Goff says that a "sincere, detailed apology could only help him."

She suggests that Brown rip a page out of healthcare's playbook: "there is well-established precedent for the effectiveness of a genuine apology both personally and professionally. Increasingly hospitals--whose errors can have life or death consequences--are encouraging doctors and other medical personnel to openly apologize for errors. It's been found that doing so actually reduces the number of patient lawsuits."

Goff adds, "When someone says without equivocation, 'I'm genuinely sorry,' no excuses, no blaming anyone else, but 'I did it, now just tell me how I can make it right,' it's the equivalent of letting the air out of the tires of the other person's anger, and opening a pathway to healing and forgiveness." Article