The number of complaints a physician has already received is a particularly strong indicator of the risk of more complaints in the short-term future, according to a study in BMJ Quality & Safety.
Researchers in Australia examined a nationally representative sample of 18,907 patient complaints filed over an 11-year period to identify the characteristics of a physician at high risk for patient complaints.
Results showed that a physician who had received complaints in the past is 80 percent more likely to receive complaints in the near future. Approximately 3 percent of physicians in the study accounted for half of all complaints.
Researchers also identified the specialties that received the most complaints:
General practitioner (47 percent)
Surgeon (14 percent)
Internal medicine (11 percent)
Psychiatry (6 percent)
Obstetrics and gynecology (5 percent)
Additionally, 79 percent of complaints were against male physicians, and 30 percent were against physicians age 46 to 55.
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Researchers in Australia examined a nationally representative sample of 18,907 patient complaints filed over an 11-year period to identify the characteristics of a physician at high risk for patient complaints.
Results showed that a physician who had received complaints in the past is 80 percent more likely to receive complaints in the near future. Approximately 3 percent of physicians in the study accounted for half of all complaints.
Researchers also identified the specialties that received the most complaints:
General practitioner (47 percent)
Surgeon (14 percent)
Internal medicine (11 percent)
Psychiatry (6 percent)
Obstetrics and gynecology (5 percent)
Additionally, 79 percent of complaints were against male physicians, and 30 percent were against physicians age 46 to 55.
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