Tips for Working with Difficult Doctors
If an employee has a recent change in behavior, ask if there is a reason.
“It is my experience that sudden changes in behaviors are often the result of a personal or clinical issue, so it is important and humane to make certain that there is not some other cause for the change before assuming someone is simply being disruptive or difficult,” Dr. Nichols says.
Many healthcare institutions are now setting up centers of professionalism. Paskoff reports that The Center for Professionalism and Peer Support (CPPS) was created in 2008 at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston to educate the hospital community regarding professionalism and manage unprofessional behavior.3 CPPS has established standards of behavior and a framework to deal with difficult behaviors.
“An employee is told what he or she is doing wrong, receives counseling, and is given resources to improve,” he explains. “If an employee doesn’t improve, he or she is told that the behavior won’t be tolerated.”
Dismissing Bad Employees
After addressing the specifics of unacceptable behavior and explaining the consequences of repeating it, leadership should monitor subsequent conduct and provide feedback.
“If the employee commits other violations or behaves badly, promptly address the misconduct again and make it clear that further such actions will not be tolerated,” Troutman says. “Expect immediate and sustained improvement and compliance. Be consistent, and if bad conduct continues after an opportunity to improve, do not prolong anyone’s suffering. Instead, terminate the disruptive employee. When you do, make the reasons clear.”
Karen Appold is a medical writer in Pennsylvania.
References
- Behaviors that undermine a culture of safety. The Joint Commission website. Accessed April 17, 2015.
- Whittemore AD, New England Society for Vascular Surgery. The impact of professionalism on safe surgical care. J Vasc Surg. 2007;45(2):415-419.
- Shapiro J, Whittemore A, Tsen LC. Instituting a culture of professionalism: the establishment of a center for professionalism and peer support. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2014;40(4):168-177.
Are Behaviors Getting Better or Worse?
The Joint Commission issued a sentinel event alert1 on July 9, 2008, as a result of continuous reports to the commission’s Office of Quality and Patient Safety about disruptive behavior. Despite efforts to prevent employees from behaving badly, Ronald Wyatt, MD, MHA, medical director of the Division of Healthcare Improvement, says there is no evidence that the number of instances of bad behavior is decreasing.
According to a 2013 Institute for Safe Medication Practices survey with 4,884 respondents:2
- 73% reported encountering negative comments about colleagues or leaders during the previous year.
- 68% reported condescending language or demeaning comments or insults.
- 77% said they had encountered reluctance or refusal to answer questions or return calls.
- 69% reported they had encountered impatience with questions or hanging up the phone.
In addition, in a 2011 survey of more than 500 physician leaders and more than 300 staff physicians, 71 percent of respondents stated they had witnessed some type of disruptive behavior within the previous month, while 26 percent stated that they had been disruptive at one point in their career.3
Despite the gloomy news, Dr. Wyatt says, “There is increased awareness of disruptive behaviors, and they are being reported more often than in the past.”
As a former chief of medicine at a hospital, Dr. Wyatt says the lack of improvement could be due to hospital leadership.
“This is a critical piece to having a sound patient safety system,” he says.
In order for bad behaviors to improve, hospital leadership needs to be committed to creating a culture of safety. This would involve answering “yes” to the following questions:
- Does staff feel safe to report disruptive behaviors, and will leadership act on those reports?
- Is leadership committed to decreasing these types of behaviors?
- Is there a reporting system in place, and is it being used, monitored, and acted on?
- Can leadership step in and enforce the process if physicians aren’t complying?
- Is a model in place if intervention is necessary?
According to Dr. Wyatt, data show that one intervention is usually enough for most physicians to cease bad behaviors, but a small portion will persist.4
Hospitals accredited by The Joint Commission can contact the organization for a template regarding a policy for disruptive behaviors. Some consultants can also provide this.
—Karen Appold
References
- Behaviors that undermine a culture of safety. The Joint Commission website. Accessed April 17, 2015.
- Patient safety systems. Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals. The Joint Commission. January 1, 2015:7-8.
- MacDonald O. Disruptive physician behavior. Quantia Communications, Inc.: Waltham, MA. May 15, 2011.
- Pichert JW, Moore IN, Karrass J, et al. An intervention model that promotes accountability: peer messengers and patient/family complaints. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2013;39(10):435-446.
