Original Article
Patients’ complaints involving ophthalmologists in the province of Ontario, Canada: a 5-year review

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjo.2019.08.007Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

To present an overview of complaints against ophthalmologists to the regulatory body in the province of Ontario, Canada, during a 5-year period.

Design

Retrospective cross-sectional study.

Methods

All completed complaints to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) involving ophthalmologists from January 2013 to May 2018 were reviewed. Data regarding the prevalence of complaints, physician characteristics, practice location, reason of complaint, and outcomes as decided by the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee (ICRC) were collected. Identified concerns were classified across 3 domains: clinical care and treatment, professionalism and conduct, and practice management.

Results

There were 372 complaints involving 211 ophthalmologists out of 448 practicing ophthalmologists in Ontario. A total of 933 issues were raised in the 372 complaints. Complaints related to clinical care and treatment were most common (76.3%), followed by professionalism and conduct (55.4%) and practice management (24.7%). Within these domains, the 5 largest subcategories in order of occurrence were communication, billing practices, consent, procedural mishap, and documentation. Of the 372 investigations, the ICRC took some form of action in 117 cases (31.4%). The most common actionable decisions issued by the ICRC were advice (19.1%), caution (6.2%), and participation in a specified continuing educational or remediation program (3.5%). Four cases (1.1%) were referred to the Discipline Committee.

Conclusions

Almost half of practicing ophthalmologists in Ontario (47%) received at least one formal CPSO complaint within the 5-year study period. Communication was the most common issue raised in complaints.

Section snippets

Methods

This was a cross-sectional study of resolved complaints to the CPSO against ophthalmologists from January 2013 to May 2018. Ethics Committee approval was not needed as the data were anonymized. Data collected were aggregate without any personal identifiers and included the number of ophthalmologists who had a completed complaint(s) during this time period and physician's age, sex, and practice location. Practice location at the time of the complaint was defined as hospital based,

Results

During the 5½-year study period there were 372 investigations involving 211 Ontario ophthalmologists. Sixty percent (n = 125) of complained-against ophthalmologists had 1 complaint during the study period, 49 (23%) had 2 complaints, and 37 (17.5%) had 3 or more complaints. Physician's demographics and practice location of investigated ophthalmologists are shown in Table 1. Compared with the composition of ophthalmologists in Ontario, there was no significant difference in the frequency of

Discussion

The risk of an ophthalmologist being involved in an investigation by the legal governing bodies is on the rise.1, 2, 3 In this study nearly half (47.1%) of the practising ophthalmologists in Ontario had at least one complaint over a 5-year period and 40.5% of those had more than one complaint. Thus, complaints against ophthalmologists in Ontario are common. Complaints to regulatory bodies are different in their scope, implications for the practitioners, and the resolution process from the

Footnotes and Disclosure

Publication of this supplement was supported through the Affinity Agreement between MD Financial Management, the Canadian Medical Association, and Scotiabank.

Dr. Yvonne M. Buys is consultant for Argentium Pharmaceuticals, Bausch and Lomb, and Labtician Thea. The authors have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article. Conflict of interest: none.

Acknowledgements

College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.

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Presented at Canadian Ophthalmological Society Annual Meeting, Quebec City, Quebec, June 16, 2019.

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