Risk 149 - Patient Complaints and Negative Reviews

Course overview

Though much is taught about procedural aspects relating to formal complaints filed with state professional Boards, abundant studies exist (though little instruction is provided to practitioners) discussing the devastating effect patient complaints exert on practitioners' health, on the provider-patient relationship, and consequently on healthcare provider burn-out rates and patient outcomes. Additionally, providers who attempt to squelch negative patient reviews through litigation, through gag contracts, or financial incentives have found themselves in trouble with current legislation and court rulings. We cover these issues and examine a correlation between healthy clinical relationships exhibiting reciprocal emotion and their low incidence of complaints, negative reviews and formal charges. Finally, we evaluate current legislation and associated court cases that help define current legal strategies for reducing the incidence of complaints, disciplinary charges and litigation by optimizing the provider patient clinical experience.