• Louis C Grandizio, Daniela F Barreto Rocha, James Paul Piper, Daniel S Hayes, and Joel C Klena.
• From the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Geisinger Musculoskeletal Institute, Danville, PA.
• J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2021 Aug 1; 29 (15): 659-665.

IntroductionOur purpose was to define and categorize patient complaints within a hand surgery practice over a 10-year period. In addition, we aimed to define surgeon and patient factors associated with formal complaints.MethodsAll patients who filed a complaint with our institution's patient advocacy service against six hand surgeons in an academic practice over a 10-year period were recorded and categorized using the Patient Complaint Analysis System. A control group consisting of all patients seen by the surgeons during the study period was created. Demographic differences between the complaint and control groups were analyzed, as were complaint rates between surgeons. We obtained the number of malpractice events involving each of the surgeons.ResultsDuring the 10-year study period, 73 of 36,010 unique patients seen (0.20%) filed a complaint. Care and treatment category comprised the highest percentage of complaint designations (30%), followed by access and availability (23%). Forty-three patients (59%) who filed complaints were treated surgically. Patients with a complaint had a significantly higher percentage of mental, behavioral, or neurodevelopmental disorders compared with controls (55% versus 42%, P = 0.03). The complaint rate (total complaints/total new patients seen) ranged between 0.09% and 0.29% for the six surgeons, and these results were not statistically significant.DiscussionWithin an academic hand and upper extremity surgery practice, the rate of patient complaints is 0.20% or approximately one complaint for every 500 new patients seen. Most patient complaints are categorized within the care and treatment domain. Underlying mental health conditions are associated with more frequent complaints. Communication issues appear to represent a modifiable area that hand surgeons can improve to help mitigate potential complaints. Understanding both the frequency and types of patient complaints may allow hand surgeons to recognize areas for improvement and avoid potential exposure to malpractice litigation.Level Of EvidencePrognostic level III (case-control).Copyright © 2021 by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

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