The cost of disruptive and unprofessional behaviors in health care.
OBJECTIVE
In an era of decreased reimbursements and rising expenses, academic health care systems are seeking alternative sources of funding. We hypothesized that the costs associated with disruptive physician behavior represented a source of potential savings and hence a possible financial stream which could be redirected to support other academic activities.


METHODS
To test this hypothesis, we reviewed costs associated with disruptive behavior in clinical and education settings and estimated their savings in academic health care systems.


RESULTS
In a 400 bed hospital, the combined costs for disruptive physician behaviors (due to staff turnover, medication errors and procedural errors) exceed $1 million.


CONCLUSIONS
Reducing disruptive physician behavior in academic health care systems is a potential funding stream with the added benefits of improved patient safety, reduced medical errors and improved medical student/resident education.
Department of Diagnostic, Therapeutic and Interventional Radiology, Medical College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University,1150 15th Street, Augusta, GA 30912, USA. jvrawson@yahoo.com
James V
JV
Rawson
Norman
N
Thompson
Gilberto
G
Sostre
Lori
L
Deitte
D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004651:Employment / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D010815:Physician Impairment / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010820:Physicians / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D028743:Professional Misconduct / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011871:Radiology / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States
Disruptive physician; academic radiology; impaired physician