The Impact of Disruptive Physician Behavior on Support Staff and Patients: A Quantitative Secondary Analysis

Author

Michael C. MarinoFollow

Campus Location

Dallas Campus (Online)

Date of Award

3-2022

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4856-123X

Document Type

Dissertation

Department

Organizational Leadership

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

Cecilia Hegamin-Younger

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Lawrence Santiago

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Scott Self

Abstract

In this quantitative secondary analysis, the purpose was to examine the nature of disruptive physician behavior (DPB) from the support staff and patient perspectives. Healthcare staffing shortages existed prior to the global pandemic and have increased, creating importance for employee retention and recruitment. I wanted to understand the impact of physician behavior on staff turnover rates in a private oncology practice, its effect on patient satisfaction rates, and to compare these rates of physicians that display DPB with physicians that do not display this behavior in a private hematology oncology community outpatient setting in the Southwest United States. To answer these questions, the researchers analyzed staff satisfaction scores (n = 5,529), staff turnover rates, patient satisfaction scores, and their relationships to physicians’ behaviors (n = 476) in 81 clinical locations (n = 18,000) using five clinical and nonclinical instruments: an employee opinion survey, a patient satisfaction survey, an employee turnover rate report, a physician disruption report, and the site characteristic report. A statistical analysis was performed, and results confirmed that DPB had a statistically significant impact on staff satisfaction when rating physician communication and behavior. The mean average for communication was 85.13 for clinics with no DBP and 65.17 at severe DPB clinics, representing a 19.96 margin in rating. The results showed that staff felt similarly about the behavior of the physician when compared to the organizational values. Results were statistically significant for staff turnover of locations with no DPB that had an average staff turnover of more than 2.3% (SD = 1.4%). The average turnover percentage in the moderate category of clinical locations was 5.1% (SD = 2.0%). Results for the impact of DPB on patient satisfaction scores were not statistically significant. This study supports the need for continued research on DPB and its impact on the clinical environment.

Creative Commons License

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Recommended Citation

Marino, Michael C., "The Impact of Disruptive Physician Behavior on Support Staff and Patients: A Quantitative Secondary Analysis" (2022). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 436.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/436