Understanding the impact of high-risk practitioners on patient safety - Dr Matthew Spittal
| Dates: | 27 September 2019 |
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| Times: | 12:00 - 13:00 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health |
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| Who is it for: | University staff, Current University students |
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| Speaker: | Dr Matthew Spittal |
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Lapses in professionalism and clinical performance are not uncommon and pose substantial threats to patient safety. Yet, the regulation of health professionals remains a fundamentally reactive enterprise. Aspects of this are out of step with contemporary approaches to quality assurance and consumer protection and do little to rehabilitate clinicians to prevent future harm.
In this seminar Dr Matthew Spittal present the results of a series of studies that explore two fundamental questions:
1) Who are the practitioners at high-risk of developing track records of misconduct?
2) What happens to practitioners who accrue multiple misconduct allegations?
Using data from Australia and the US, Dr Spittal shows that a small proportion of doctors are responsible for the majority of misconduct allegations and that there are discernible differences between those with multiple allegations and those with none. Using Australian data, I present the results of a risk-score designed to be used by regulators to triage complaints at lodgement, and to guide decisions about which complaints to investigate. Finally, I present findings from a large cohort study of US doctors (>450,000 doctors followed over 7 years) that examined the trajectories of multi-claim doctors.
The results show systematic differences between multi-claim doctors and those with unblemished records: multi-claim doctors are more likely to exit practice, and among those that remain in practice, charge for more services, and are more likely to move into solo practice.
Taken as a whole, this work illuminates how regulators can become more pro-active and data-driven to ultimately improve patient safety. However, it also signals warnings of some of the unintended consequences of regulation
The seminar is free, but booking required – contact carol.rayegan@manchester.ac.uk
Speaker
Dr Matthew Spittal
Role: Associate Professor and Australian Research Council Future Fellow
Organisation: The University of Melbourne
Travel and Contact Information
Find event
3.204
University Place
Manchester
