The Center for Professional and Patient Advocacy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., designed a peer messenger process to improve the behavior of physicians identified by unsolicited patient complaints as performing unsafe and dissatisfying behavior.
Sign up for our FREE E-Weekly for more coverage like this sent to your inbox!
From 2005 through 2009, 178 peer messenger physicians at 16 community and academic medical centers intervened with 373 high-risk physicians.
Ninety-seven percent of the high-risk physicians received feedback professionally. Sixty-four percent of these physicians, called “responders,” subsequently changed their behavior, improving their risk scores at least 15 percent. In contrast, 17 percent of the physicians who did not respond to the intervention worsened their risk scores, and 19 percent did not change their scores.
Physicians who responded to the feedback were more likely to practice in medicine and surgery than emergency medicine, have longer organizational tenure and engage in longer first-time intervention meetings with messengers compared with nonresponders, according to the study.
More Articles on Patient Safety:
C. diff Infection Program Increases Compliance With Protocols
10 Most Common General and Specific Adverse Drug Event Causes
Anesthesia Providers’ Hand Hygiene Under Fire: 16 Findings
At the Becker’s 32nd Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs, taking place October 29-31 in Chicago, ASC leaders, surgeons and healthcare executives will explore strategies to drive growth, enhance operational performance, navigate reimbursement challenges and prepare for the future of ambulatory surgery. Apply for complimentary registration now.