The PMD Critical List: Half of Doctors Sanctioned for Sex Abuse Still Practicing

Thousands of physicians have been sanctioned for sexual misconduct involving patients in recent years, but for many, it hasn’t affected their medical license. That story tops this week’s PMD Critical List. Also making the list: Which hospitals are the most wired, and amid such technological advances, why is it still so hard for patients to get access to care?

• License to Betray: Doctors and Sex Abuse (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Nearly 2,500 physicians nationwide have been sanctioned for sexual misconduct involving patients between 1999 and 2015, yet more than half still maintain active medical licenses, according to an in-depth new investigative series by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “A culture of secrecy” has been found.

• Patient Complaints Can Make Doctors Feel “Worthless” (Science Daily)

“Complaints against physicians can impact on their psychological wellbeing, according to a new study from Imperial College London. Patient complaint procedures also cause doctors to change their practice in ways that may impact on patient care, and incur unnecessary costs to health services.”

• Immense Physician-Patient Gap Threatens All (Forbes)

A troubling new Nielsen Strategic Health Perspectives survey finds that “across the nation, technology is frequently unavailable and underused. Access to medical advice and care off-hours is minimal. And physicians are relatively ineffective at communicating the importance of prevention.”

• America’s Most Wired Hospitals (H&HN)

The American Hospital Association’s is out with its 2016 “Health Care’s Most Wired” survey. The report is designed to measure the level of IT adoption in US hospitals and health systems, and serve as a tool for hospital and health system leadership to map their IT strategic plans.

• Nork York City’s Bleeding Hospitals (New York Post)

“According to a new Independent Budget Office report, city hospital revenues are plummeting, thanks to funding cuts required by the Affordable Care Act and a decline in Medicaid patients. At the same time, costs are soaring, leaving the system with a cash shortfall of $6.1 billion for 2016-20.”

• America’s Medical Schools: 5 Needed Changes (STAT)

“Like many aspects of healthcare, medical education evolves slowly. The modern curriculum is based on the Flexner Report—a review published in 1910. It hasn’t changed much since then. These five reforms can help create a physician workforce equipped to meet the challenges of a new era.”

• A Cultural Shift for Doctors: Asking Patients “Why? (WBUR)

A news report from Boston about a physician training workshop now in progress. Most medical schools and residency programs focus on the biology, not the sociology, of health. As important as checking a patient’s blood pressure is probably asking why their blood pressure is poorly controlled.

• How to Do Patient Engagement Right: A Primer for Physicians (MedCityNews)

“Nowadays, healthcare consumerism, patient engagement, and the empowered patient are all the rage. People are questioning their doctors and demanding participation in the healthcare diagnosis and treatment process. There are some simple things that can be done before, during and after an office visit to greatly improve outcomes and patient-physician engagement.”

• Congress Must Increase Access to Opioid Addiction Medication (The Hill)

Two former members of Congress—who seldom agreed on anything—believe that the federal government must break down the barriers to recovery medications (ie, buprenorphine) that research shows are most effective in saving the lives of people with opioid addictions.