Prevalence and characteristics of complaint-prone doctors

January 01, 0001

Prevalence and characteristics of complaint-prone doctors

The aim of this study by researchers from Australia was to identify characteristics of doctors who are repeated subjects of complaints by patients. It consisted of a case-control study of doctors about whom patients had complained to the Victorian Health Services Commissioner between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2009.

Among doctors in private practice in Victoria, 20.5% experienced at least one complaint over the decade. Among doctors who were the subject of a complaint, 4.5% had four or more complaints, and this group accounted for 17.6% of all complaints to the Victorian Health Services Commissioner. Multivariate analyses showed that surgeons (odds ratio, OR, 8.90) and psychiatrists (OR, 4.59) had higher odds of being in the complaint-prone group than general practitioners. Doctors trained overseas had lower odds of being complaint-prone than those trained in Australia (OR, 0.31).

The researchers concluded: "A small group of doctors in private practice in Victoria account for nearly 18% of complaints. Interventions to improve patient satisfaction and public confidence in health services should target complaint-prone subgroups of practitioners."

A small group of the medical workforce responsible for nearly 20% of complaints is interesting. It is hard to interpret the IMG protective effect without knowing country and language of origin and training. We also are not told the nature of the complaints.

For the full abstract, click here.

MJA 195(1):25-28, 4 July 2011 © The Medical Journal of Australia 2011
Prevalence and characteristics of complaint-prone doctors in private practice in Victoria. Marie M Bismark, Matthew J Spittal and David M Studdert. Correspondence to Marie Bismark: [email protected]

Category: HSR. Health Services Research. Keywords: prevalence, characteristics, complaints, doctors, private practice, case control study, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Stephen Wilkinson, Melbourne, Australia. Posted on Global Family Doctor 19 July 2011

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.

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