The disruptive physician and impact on the culture of safety

The disruptive physician is a growing problem in medicine. All too often, physician behavior negatively impacts the delivery of quality patient care. The hostile environment that certain behaviors create makes it difficult for team members advocate for their patients. It is imperative that physician practices develop and an understanding of how to identify the disruptive physician to maintain patient safety.

Disruptive physicians can damage team morale by creating a psychologically unsafe working environment. Healthcare organizations must be committed to ensuring that all team members can function effectively in their work environments. The leaders of healthcare organizations must be acutely aware of what constitutes disruptive behavior and act proactively to eliminate such behaviors. Disruptive physicians should be made acutely aware that their behavior is deemed unacceptable and efforts at correcting such behavior are imperative.

The practice of medicine is multifaceted. It is imperative that the assurance of psychological safety is met to meet the standards of high quality and safe care for patients.