Disruptive behavior a risk to patient safety

Disruptive behavior from physicians has become a topic of conversation after a recent court case that awarded a colonoscopy patient $500,000 after he recorded his anesthesiologist making disparaging remarks about him during the procedure. Disruptive behavior can also lead to bad patient outcomes such as medication errors and infections when staff members are afraid to report or address incidents out of fear of a bullying physician.

Many hospitals have systems in place for staff members to register complaints about disruptive behavior. Vanderbilt University Medical Center has an escalating intervention system where first offenses are addressed during informal conversations, warnings are issued after second offenses, and the use of letters and possible interventions for subsequent offenses.
 
Source: USA Today