Podcast 518: Professional Complications

Contributor: Jared Scott, MD

Educational Pearls

• In a 4 yr period at 2 hospital systems, unprofessional behavior of surgeons was monitored via a complaint system. Number of complaints was compared with surgical complications.
• In 13000 patients over this period, the number of surgical complications was found to vary with the number of complaints. Surgeons with with zero complaints had a 10% complication rate, 1-3 complaints had a 14% rate, and those with >4 and an 11.9% rate.
• There was statistical significance that persisted after adjustment for a variety of patient factors
• It never hurts to be professional!

References

Cooper WO, Spain DA, Guillamondegui O, et al. Association of Coworker Reports About Unprofessional Behavior by Surgeons With Surgical Complications in Their Patients. JAMA Surg. 2019;154(9):828–834. doi:https://doi.org/10.1001/jamasurg.2019.1738

Summarized by Will Dewispelaere, MS4 | Edited by Erik Verzemnieks, MD