(1) Personal conduct, whether verbal or physical, that affects or that potentially may affect patient care negatively constitutes disruptive behavior. (This includes but is not limited to conduct that interferes with one’s ability to work with other members of the health care team.) However, criticism that is offered in good faith with the aim of improving patient care should not be construed as disruptive behavior.

(2) Each medical staff should develop and adopt bylaw provisions or policies for intervening in situations where a physician’s behavior is identified as disruptive. The medical staff bylaw provisions of policies should contain procedural safeguards that protect due process. Physicians exhibiting disruptive behavior should be referred to a medical staff wellness -- or equivalent committee.

(3) In developing policies that address physicians with disruptive behavior, attention should be paid to the following elements:

(a) Clearly stating principal objectives in terms that ensure high standards of patient care and promote a professional practice and work environment.

(b) Describing the behavior or types of behavior that will prompt intervention.

(c) Providing a channel through which disruptive behavior can be reported and appropriately recorded. A single incident may not be sufficient for action, but each individual report may help identify a pattern that requires intervention.

(d) Establishing a process to review or verify reports of disruptive behavior.

(e) Establishing a process to notify a physician whose behavior is disruptive that a report has been made, and providing the physician with an opportunity to respond to the report.

(f) Including means of monitoring whether a physician’s disruptive conduct improves after intervention.

(g) Providing for evaluative and corrective actions that are commensurate with the behavior, such as self-correction and structured rehabilitation. Suspension of responsibilities or privileges should be a mechanism of final resort. Additionally, institutions should consider whether the reporting requirements of Opinion 9.031, "Reporting Impaired, Incompetent, or Unethical Colleagues," apply in particular cases.

(h) Identifying which individuals will be involved in the various stages of the process, from reviewing reports to notifying physicians and monitoring conduct after intervention.

(i) Providing clear guidelines for the protection of confidentiality.

(j) Insuring that individuals who report physicians with disruptive behavior are duly protected. (I, II, VIII) Issued December 2000 based on the report "Physicians With Disruptive Behavior," adopted June 2000.