A research study recently looked at healthcare providers reported by co-workers in safety event reports.

In any workplace, the observations and opinions of co-workers are important.  In a recent study published in JAMA Network Open, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center used the Co-Worker Observation Reporting System (CORS) that collects safety event reports involving the unprofessional behavior of workers in the medical industry.

The majority of medical errors made on a daily basis across the country go unreported.  Many are near-misses and do not cause harm.  In this study, researchers note the importance of monitoring safety event reports as they may reveal a trend, and also identify unprofessional behaviors that give rise to malpractice claims, complications, and patient harm.

The CORS system is a tool initiated in 2013 at Vanderbilt University to collect the observations of co-workers who witness the unprofessional behavior of their colleagues. For this review, study authors reviewed retrospective data covering 35,120 physicians.  The aim was to evaluate provider specialties identified in patient safety reports. The physicians in this study practice at the 193 hospitals that are included in the CORS system.

Of the study group, approximately nine percent, or 3,179 doctors, were mentioned in at least one report regarding unprofessional conduct. Events were coded for type of event, such as communication, competent medical care, professional responsibility.  Research findings include:

  • Surgeons were the practice group most often named in a co-worker report. Doctors working in the pediatric space were the least likely to be named in a safety event report.
  • Examples cited that involved communications include a surgeon reminded by a member of the surgical team of the time-out requirement prior to a bronchoscopy who mumbled, “bossy cow.”  Another surgeon yanked an instrument out of the hand of the co-worker saying, “Give me that…let’s find someone who can do their job.”  And another doctor yelled at a colleague in front of a room filled with families and patients.
  • Reports citing professional responsibility involve doctors refusing to change dirty gloves during a procedure, physicians who yell, do not return calls, and physicians attempting to do verbal rather than written orders in clinic.
  • Competent medical care was cited in cases where a physician was confused and did not remember patients recently seen, a doctor who refused to wait until a child calmed down to suture a wound, and a physician who dropped a scope on the floor, picked it up, and finished the procedure.
  • Integrity was cited in reports noting a physician who spent four minutes with a patient and billed for a longer visit, a doctor who instructed the scheduler to overbook to meet a bonus quota, and a patient who waited for an hour and eventually left without being seen while the physician noted in the chart that the patient was seen.

Studies of this nature bring awareness to behaviors and actions that can lead to patient injury and malpractice claims.  If you were injured by a medical mistake, speak with our experienced personal injury legal team.

Do you have questions about a medical mistake?  Speak with our highly-regarded legal group today.

Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A. has a successful track record of obtaining compensation on behalf of clients and their families injured by medical malpractice and negligence.  If you are injured by a healthcare provider, call us at 410-234-1000 to set up a free consultation to discuss your case.