Around 73% of physicians do not want more nondoctors on their state medical boards, according to Medscape's Physicians' Thoughts on Medical Boards Report 2024 published Aug. 27.
The report surveyed 1,023 physicians across more than 29 specialties from May 7 to June 14.
Here are four notes:
1. Twelve percent of surveyed physicians said they did want more board members who are not doctors, and 15% said they were unsure.
2. When asked how much the prospect of a medical board complaint affects patient interactions, 38% said not at all, 38% said a little and 24% said a lot.
3. When asked how much the prospect of a medical board complaint affects attention to tasks, 41% said a little, 31% said a lot and 28% said not at all.
4. Seventy-seven percent of physicians said they've never been subject to a complaint by the state medical board, 18% said once, 3% said twice and 2% said three or more times.