institution who became severely demented. His colleagues covered
for him for a long time instead of addressing the issue. Instead of
remembering him as the incredibly accomplished physician he was,
he's talked about as a physician who practiced longer than he should
have. That's ultimately the type of scenario our policy is designed to
avoid.
OSM
Dr. Weinacker (aweinacker@stanfordhealthcare.org) is the associate chief med-
ical officer at Stanford (Calif.) Health Care.
J U N E 2 0 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 2 5
contributions older individuals can make to the workforce. It's
also true that surgeons might be the last to notice the age-relat-
ed deterioration of their own physical and cognitive function and
clinical skills.
Dr. Dellinger suggests you implement the following policies to
deal with aging docs who are credentialed to work in their facili-
ties:
• conduct mandatory testing at certain ages;
• strengthen peer review by having more peer observation of
actual care delivery and by having peer assessment by col-
leagues at all levels who are in a position to evaluate the sur-
geon's clinical performance; and
• explore how medical practice can be adapted to facilitate
continued involvement as clinicians age.
"Some surgeons are pushing back against the testing that's
required for recertification," says Dr. Dellinger. "Yet I imagine if
they were about to be operated on they'd want to be sure their
surgeon was knowledgeable about current practices and still
physically able to perform the procedure."
— Daniel Cook
