Editor’s note: The 2024 AAP National Conference & Exhibition will take place from Sept. 27-Oct. 1 in Orlando, Fla. For more coverage, visit https://bit.ly/AAPNationalConference2024 and follow @AAPNews on LinkedIn, Facebook and X.
Much about the profession of pediatrics and the public’s relationship to it has changed in the past few decades.
“A necessary ingredient of the positive evolution of having patient-centered care is it makes us less important — it makes people less deferential to us,” said Steven A. Bondi, J.D., M.D., FAAP, chair of the AAP Committee on Medical Liability and Risk Management. “Those are good things … but there’s a negative to them. And if people are going to be less deferential, they’re going to be more assertive when there’s a difference of opinion.”
Sometimes those differences get out of hand and lead to physical confrontations or bullying, which is the focus of Dr. Bondi’s presentation “When Pediatricians Are Bullied: Avoiding Legal Repercussions When Dealing With Problem Parents and Patients” (I4301). The interactive workshop will be held from 4-5:30 p.m. EDT on Monday, Sept. 30 in room W311AB of the convention center.
Dr. Bondi will use discussions and role-playing exercises to examine how pediatricians can mitigate differences they may have with difficult parents and families — and how to minimize the fallout, legal or otherwise.
The first step, Dr. Bondi said, is awareness: “Do you even know that this is a problem? You may not have thought about this.”
That leads to other questions, which the workshop can help attendees answer:
- What do you do in your office if you have somebody who’s violent?
- If somebody is acting inappropriately, what steps do you take?
- What do you do if you are subject to an online attack? What can you say or not say?
- If you want to terminate your relationship with a patient or family, should you do that and how should you do that?
While the frustrations of the COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated patient-doctor conflicts, the problems didn’t begin there, Dr. Bondi said, citing a 63% increase in violent attacks against medical professionals from 2011-’18.
“I think it has to do with the nature of our interactions with people,” Dr. Bondi said. “Social media has changed the whole way we approach other human beings.”
Dealing with harsh online comments will be among the session’s role-playing exercises, which have been shaped by real-life interactions. Not all will be patient-focused; Dr. Bondi said one scenario is inspired by a provider who was bullied by a supervisor.
“Pediatricians really like to get along with people … that’s a superpower we have,” Dr. Bondi said. “But sometimes it is a disadvantage, too, because it lets people take advantage of us and abuse us, if we are willing to take the slings and the arrows.”
Browse the full conference schedule at https://aapexperience24.eventscribe.net/.
