Legal and medicolegal consultations

Nine percent of the 11 041 family physician respondents to the 2004 National Physician Survey (NPS) indicated that legal or medicolegal consultations were part of their practice.

Ten percent of male family physicians and 7% of female family physicians provide legal or medicolegal consultations (P < .0001).
Provision of legal or medicolegal consultations varies by age. Such consultations are provided by 5% of family physicians younger than 35 years, 8% of family physicians aged 35 to 44 years, 9% of those aged 45 to 54 years, 10% of those aged 55 to 64 years, and 9% of those aged 65 and older.
The regional variation in the proportion of family physicians providing legal or medicolegal consultations is illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1

Proportion of family physicians providing legal or medicolegal consultations

By completing the 2007 NPS (coming to all physicians in Canada in January 2007), you will provide current data to update these findings. Detailed national, provincial, and territorial analyses of the 2004 NPS results are available on the NPS website at www.nationalphysiciansurvey.ca.

If you would like the opportunity to develop and write a future Fast Facts using the 2004 NPS results, please contact Sarah Scott, National Physician Survey and Janus Project Coordinator, College of Family Physicians of Canada; telephone 800 387–6197, extension 289; e-mail sks{at}cfpc.ca.