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.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 08, 2019
Accepted:
August 29,
2019
Received in revised form:
August 28,
2019
Received:
July 22,
2019
Footnotes
Presented at Canadian Ophthalmological Society Annual Meeting, Quebec City, Quebec, June 16, 2019.
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Canadian Ophthalmological Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
