Most physicians have never undergone a peer review, but 56% of physicians said they were concerned that peer reviews could be used to punish them, according to a Medscape report.
The "Seeking Fairness and Real Guidance: Physicians and Peer Reviews Report 2024" surveyed 1,023 physicians across more than 29 specialties between May 7 and June 14, 2024.
Here are eight things to know:
1. Most physicians (79%) have never undergone a peer review, but 12% of physicians have been peer-reviewed one time, 5% undergone two reviews, 1% undergone three reviews and 3% undergone more than three reviews.
2. When asked about the forces spurring peer reviews, physicians said other physicians triggered 31% of peer reviews, followed by requests for new privileges (11%), patients or patient families (10%) and nurses (8%).
3. Sixty percent of physicians said that the overall impact of a peer review was occasional system-level changes or quality improvement results, compared to 29% of physicians who said peer reviews resulted in no obvious changes.
4. Most physicians said they think peer reviews are initiated to help with overall quality improvement or to avoid possible mistakes in clinical decisions.
5. However, 27% of physicians are very concerned, and 29% are concerned that peer reviews could be misused to punish them. Only 7% of physicians said they were not concerned at all.
6. When asked how consistently peer reviews apply the same standards, 16% of physicians said always, 41% said often and 29% said sometimes.
7. The majority of physicians said that panels treat physicians' own explanations and evidence as very impactful (22%) or impactful (40%) during the process.
8. Almost 60% of workplaces let staff report near-misses anonymously; however, 29% of physicians were very concerned, and 25% were concerned, that plaintiffs could access peer review records.