Poor results in exams on communication skills equates to more complaints later against doctors

According to a new study doctors who show poor results in exams assessing their communication skills with patients, are the ones most complained about.

Researchers at McGill University in Canada tracked the progress of 3,424 doctors licensed to practice in Ontario and Quebec who took the Medical Council of Canada clinical skills examination between 1993 and 1996.

The research team tracked complaints made later against the doctors on issues such as quality of care, inappropriate medical treatment and the doctors attitude, which were regarded as valid by the medical regulatory authorities.

The researchers led by Robyn Tamblyn found there was a very strong relationship between those who scored poorly in the communication exams and later complaints by patients.

Dr. Tamblyn who is the scientific director of McGill University's Clinical and Health Informatics research unit says low scores in the exam results were quite predictive and the higher a doctor's score was, the less likely there would be complaints.

Dr. Tamblyn says this applied whether the doctor was male or female, a foreign medical graduate or a local graduate.

The Medical Council of Canada was one of the first accreditation bodies to introduce patient- doctor communication skills testing as part of the medical credentialing process in the 1990's.

Tamblyn says the study proves the value of the tests which when they were first introduced caused a certain amount of consternation.

The study found of 1,116 complaints filed against 3,424 doctors, 696 were upheld by the regulatory bodies for investigation.

According to the study, the doctors whose scores were in the lowest 25 percent of all those tested were far more likely to generate complaints.