ACPE's Dr. Barry Silbaugh: Disruptive Physician Behavior Won't Go Away

Barry Silbaugh, MD, CEO of the American College of Physician Executives, says disruptive physician behavior, which includes use of profanity, refusal to follow established protocols and even physician assault, "is the issue that just won't go away."

ACPE, in partnership with QuantiaMD, have released a new report that showed physician respondents observe disruptive physician behavior by their peers on a daily basis (11 percent), weekly basis (26 percent) and monthly basis (34 percent). The study included responses from more than 800 participants, made up chiefly of physicians and medical directors.

The most commonly reported disruptive behavioral problems were degrading comments or insults (59 percent), refusal to follow established protocols (55 percent), refusal to cooperate with other providers (54 percent) and yelling (54 percent).

Not surprisingly, virtually all physician respondents (99 percent) agreed disruptive physician behavior ultimately affects patient care. Sixty percent of physician respondents reported receiving written complaints from patients and families, and half of respondents reported patients have changed physicians or practices due to the disruptive behavior.

The two most commonly cited reasons for displays of disruptive behavior were learned behaviors, such as those learned during medical training, and workload.

Read the study about disruptive physician behavior (pdf).

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