Many Physicians Would Avoid Reporting Professional Misconduct

In theory, medicine is a self-regulating profession, which means that most instances of substandard practice are expected to be identified and rectified internally. However, a survey of U.S. physicians now confirms what we all know — that many are not eager to take on the responsibility.

Of almost 1900 respondents in seven specialties, only 64% completely agreed that “physicians should report all instances of significantly impaired or incompetent colleagues to their professional society, hospital, clinic, and/or other relevant authority.” Similar percentages stated they felt “very prepared” or “somewhat prepared” to deal with impaired or incompetent colleagues. Physicians in solo or two-person practices were least likely to completely support reporting; physicians in university or medical school settings were most likely to feel prepared to do so. Anesthesiologists and psychiatrists were most likely to feel prepared to deal with impaired colleagues; anesthesiologists and surgeons were most likely to feel prepared to deal with incompetent ones. Women were more likely than men to believe incompetence should be reported but were less likely to be prepared to report it.

Among the 17% of respondents with direct personal knowledge of an impaired or incompetent colleague in the previous 3 years, 33% had not reported that colleague. The most commonly cited reasons were “thought someone else was taking care of the problem,” “believed nothing would happen as a result of the report,” and “fear of retribution.”