Publications by authors named "Margaret W Westlake"
An intervention model that promotes accountability: peer messengers and patient/family complaints.
Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf
October 2013
Article Synopsis
- Patients and their families play a crucial role in identifying unsafe practices in healthcare, prompting the development of a peer messenger program at Vanderbilt University to support high-risk physicians flagged by patient complaints.
- This study examined the effectiveness of peer messengers at 16 medical centers, involving 178 peer messengers who intervened with 373 high-risk physicians between 2005 and 2009.
- Results showed that 97% of high-risk physicians received feedback positively, with 64% improving their risk scores, while those who did not respond saw their scores decline; the process demonstrates the potential for peer support to enhance medical practice and reduce patient complaints.
Background: Anesthesiology groups continually seek data sources and evaluation metrics for ongoing professional practice evaluation, credentialing, and other quality initiatives. The analysis of patient complaints associated with physicians has been previously shown to be a marker for patient dissatisfaction and a predictor of malpractice claims. Additionally, previous studies in other specialties have revealed a nonuniform distribution of complaints among professionals.
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