Physicians will report impaired peers, in theory
Physicians support the idea of reporting their impaired peers to the appropriate authorities, but won’t always report when faced with those situations in real life, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Approximately 1,900 physicians participated in the study, “Physicians’ Perceptions, Preparedness for Reporting, and Experiences Related to Impaired and Incompetent Colleagues.”
The findings revealed that 64% of respondents, “agreed with the professional commitment to report physicians who are significantly impaired or otherwise incompetent to practice,” according to the study.
Additionally, 17% of respondents had direct, personal knowledge of an impaired practitioner, but only 67% of this group reported the impaired practitioner.
Which groups of physicians were mostly likely to report, according to the study? Those working in a hospital setting or a medical school were most likely to report.
The study found that physicians that don’t report do so because they think someone else will report the impaired practitioners.
About the Author: Emily Berry is an associate editor at HCPro in the credentialing market. In addition to managing information on CRC she writes the Briefings on Credentialing newsletter and the Credentialing Resource Center Connection weekly email newsletter. A native of Ohio, she graduated from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland before moving east to attain her MS degree in journalism from Boston University.
