Effect of client complaints on small animal veterinary internists

Objectives To investigate the effect of client complaints on small animal veterinary internists’ welfare, job satisfaction and medical practices. Materials and Methods Cross‐sectional anonymous survey study. Between February 1 and March 31, 2017, a web‐based questionnaire was made available through the American College Veterinary Internal Medicine sub‐specialty Small Animal Internal Medicine E‐mail List Serve. Results A total of 92 completed surveys were available for review. Fifty‐nine (64∙1%) respondents received a client complaint during the previous 6 months with cost of care the most common reason (53∙3%). Eighty‐nine (96∙7%) respondents worry about client complaints being made against them with 33 (35∙8%) stating they worry “most of the time” or “all of the time.” Thirty‐two (34∙8%) reported being verbally assaulted by a client in the previous 6 months and 27 (29∙4%) reported being threatened with litigation during the previous 6 months. Sixty‐six (71∙7%) have reported changing the way they practice medicine to avoid a client complaint and 40 (43∙5%) have considered changing their career because of complaints made against them. Clinical Relevance Client complaints are a frequent problem among small animal veterinary internists that have detrimental effects on job satisfaction, psychological distress and medical practices.