Our commitment to contacting a complainant within two business days of receipt of a complaint also allows an opportunity to resolve a low-level issue early . When we contact the complainant , we listen to their concerns , and answer any questions they may have . Following these conversations , the issues are often clarified and resolved and in such situations , the complainant often withdraws their complaint .
These early resolutions options provide an opportunity to unburden the system , facilitate matters more efficiently and increase both complainant and physician satisfaction with the College ’ s process . Significantly , they allow us to focus more of our resources on high-risk matters , again using the principles of right-touch regulation to identify risk appropriately to better protect patients .
Fewer complaints were received this year . In 2020 , we received 3483 concerns as compared to the 3764 concerns received in 2019 and the 4276 concerns received in 2018 .
The proportion of complaints related to professionalism and practice management decreased considerably in 2020 .
Our Alternative Dispute Resolution ( ADR ) process , another early resolution option , had its second full year of operation in 2020 and members of the public and physicians who participate in the process continue to give it positive feedback . Much quicker than a formal investigation , ADR sees complainants and doctors arrive at an outcome together , with a mediator ’ s help , rather than waiting on a committee decision . Working with the complainant and physician to resolve low level concerns is an example of applying the principles of right touch regulation to complaints .
Complaints in the Pandemic COVID-19 saw the clinical encounter change significantly .
In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic , there was an almost 80 % decrease in primary care office visits in Ontario and a 56-fold increase in virtual visits , according to research in Canadian Medical Association Journal .
It is difficult to determine how the increase in virtual visits impacted the number and type of files we received , but we did note the following in our 2020 numbers :
There were fewer issues identified in each complaint when compared to 2019 .
Complaints related to obtaining patient records were nearly eliminated in 2020 . This is likely due to the increased number of courtesy calls done by the College .
Despite the huge increase in virtual visits , there is not a marked increase in the number in complaints related to telemedicine .
18 // CPSO ANNUAL REPORT 2020