Coworker Reports about Unprofessional Behavior in Plastic Surgery

Area of Science:

• Medical professionalism
• Surgical quality and safety
• Physician behavior analysis

Background:

• Patient and coworker reports of surgeon unprofessional conduct correlate with adverse outcomes and malpractice risk.
• Coworkers can identify and report behaviors related to medical competence, communication, integrity, and responsibility.
• This study investigated coworker concern rates among plastic surgeons compared to other medical specialists.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the incidence of coworker-reported concerns among plastic surgeons versus other surgical and nonsurgical physicians.
• To identify characteristics associated with coworker concerns within plastic surgery subspecialties.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of coworker concern data from the Vanderbilt Center for Patient and Professional Advocacy's database (2014-2019).
• Physicians categorized into plastic surgery, non-plastic surgical, and nonsurgical groups.
• Plastic surgeons further analyzed by sex, graduation year, practice type, and fellowship training.

Main Results:

• Plastic surgeons (13.6%) had higher rates of coworker concerns than nonsurgeons (10.8%) and non-plastic surgeons (6.1%).
• The primary concern for plastic surgeons was "clear and respectful communication."
• No significant demographic or practice-related differences were found between plastic surgeons with and without concerns.

Conclusions:

• Plastic surgeons experience higher rates of coworker-reported concerns compared to other physician groups.
• These findings can inform institutional interventions and peer feedback to mitigate risks associated with unprofessional conduct.
• Addressing communication issues may be key to improving plastic surgeon professionalism and patient safety.