Thursday, August 05, 2010

Why won't physicians report impaired or incompetent colleagues?

---asks Kevin MD, quoting a recent JAMA article which reported that around a third of doctors would not report.

I was surprised that the number was only a third. There's been wide spread under-reporting among physicians for as long as I can remember. Contrast that with nurses, who seem to file incident reports and “write up” their colleagues frequently.

It's a cultural phenomenon that's hard to define. Maybe reporting of impaired colleagues will gain traction now that it's linked to the catch phrase “patient safety.”

1 comment:

Michael Kirsch, M.D. said...

Yes, this is a failing of our profession, which provides accelerant to those who advocate for the current unfair medical liability system. We need to internally cultivate and insist upon a culture of excellence. It's odd, because we have such accountablitily during our training years. Afterwards, however, it dissipates.