Tip of the week: Allowing disruptive physicians to confront their accusers is counterproductive

When an individual in your organization submits a complaint about a physician, the physician may assert that he or she has a right to confront their accuser. It is incumbent on the person carrying out the intervention to explain that such a right does not exist.

Although this right exists in a court of law, the medical staff's performance improvement program is not a court of law.  In the spirit of continuous improvement, remind the physician that you collect data and provide it as feedback to physicians so they can use it to improve their performance. Your behavioral policy or expectations should clearly state that physicians are expected to accept feedback in a mature and professional manner and to use it to improve.

This week's tip is adapted from A Practical Guide to Preventing and Solving Disruptive Physician Behavior by Richard A. Sheff, MD, CMSL and Todd Sagin, MD, JD.