Physician-patient relationship
The physician-patient relationship is defined as the "interactions between physician and patient".[1] Patient expectations include active listening from the physician.
The medical interview
- See also: Medical history taking
Being an empathetic listener[2] and having a caring (as opposed to a dominant) attitude[3] may help.
A supportive relationship that has "warmth, attention, and confidence" can reduce the pain of irritable bowel.[4]
It is not clear whether the physician should wear traditional attire.[5]
Greeting the patient
One study of videotaped physician-patient encounters concluded that "physicians should be encouraged to shake hands with patients but remain sensitive to nonverbal cues that might indicate whether patients are open to this behavior. Given the diversity of opinion regarding the use of names, coupled with national patient safety recommendations concerning patient identification, we suggest that physicians initially use patients' first and last names and introduce themselves using their own first and last names."[6]
Hearing the patient's story
Although physicians frequently (3/4s of interviews) interrupt patients before the patient finishes listing their concerns.[7][8] It is not clear that this interruption is bad.[9][10] Not asking for the patient's concerns at all may lead to more concerns arising late in the interview.[7]
After the patient finishing stating their chief concern, responding with "Is there something else you want to address in the visit today?" rather than "Is there anything else you want to address in the visit today?" may decrease patients' unmet concerns.[11]
Engaging the patient
Encouraging the patient to participate in decisions may increase engagement.[12] Using stories to describe medical evidence may help communication.[13] It is unclear how to overcome difficulties in communicating quantitative information.[14]
The length of the visit
There is not enough time during the typical doctor-patient visit to cover all concerns.[15] Increased numbers of medical problems[16] or concerns brought by the patient[15] interfere with quality of care. Preventive care alone, if coordinated by the doctor rather than delegated, requires more time than available.[17]
Longer visits are associated with higher quality[18] and satisfactory[19] care. Time restriction reduce satisfaction of physicians.[20]
There is much variety in length of visits.[19] Patient visits should probably be at least 20 minutes.[12]
Facilitating recall of information
Patients (and health care professionals as well[21])have difficulty in recall details of the discussion during the visit.[22][23]
Patient-physician confidentiality
In general, communications between patient and physician are privileged and cannot be brought up as part of a court proceeding. There are exceptions for reporting certain contagious diseases, child abuse, and other specific events. In the U.S., privileged information is protected by the the Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
References
- ↑ National Library of Medicine. Physician-Patient Relations. Retrieved on 2007-10-22.
- ↑ Epstein RM, Hadee T, Carroll J, Meldrum SC, Lardner J, Shields CG (2007). ""Could this Be Something Serious?" : Reassurance, Uncertainty, and Empathy in Response to Patients' Expressions of Worry". DOI:10.1007/s11606-007-0416-9. PMID 17972141. Research Blogging.
- ↑ Schmid Mast, M., Hall, J., & Roter, D. (2008). Caring and Dominance Affect Participants’ Perceptions and Behaviors During a Virtual Medical Visit. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 23(5), 523-527. DOI:10.1007/s11606-008-0512-5.
- ↑ Spiegel and Harrington. What is the placebo worth?.
- ↑ Bianchi MT (May 2008). "Desiderata or dogma: what the evidence reveals about physician attire". J Gen Intern Med 23 (5): 641–3. DOI:10.1007/s11606-008-0546-8. PMID 18286342. Research Blogging.
- ↑ Makoul G, Zick A, Green M (2007). "An evidence-based perspective on greetings in medical encounters". Arch. Intern. Med. 167 (11): 1172–6. DOI:10.1001/archinte.167.11.1172. PMID 17563026. Research Blogging.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Marvel MK, Epstein RM, Flowers K, Beckman HB (1999). "Soliciting the patient's agenda: have we improved?". JAMA 281 (3): 283–7. PMID 9918487. [e]
- ↑ Beckman HB, Frankel RM (1984). "The effect of physician behavior on the collection of data". Ann. Intern. Med. 101 (5): 692–6. PMID 6486600. [e]
- ↑ Dyche L, Swiderski D (2005). "The effect of physician solicitation approaches on ability to identify patient concerns". Journal of general internal medicine : official journal of the Society for Research and Education in Primary Care Internal Medicine 20 (3): 267–70. DOI:10.1111/j.1525-1497.2005.40266.x. PMID 15836531. Research Blogging.
- ↑ Thomas Mordekhai Laurence (2004). Extreme Clinic -- An Outpatient Doctor's Guide to the Perfect 7 Minute Visit. Philadelphia: Hanley & Belfus. ISBN 1-56053-603-9.
- ↑ Heritage J, Robinson JD, Elliott MN, Beckett M, Wilkes M (2007). "Reducing patients' unmet concerns in primary care: the difference one word can make". Journal of general internal medicine : official journal of the Society for Research and Education in Primary Care Internal Medicine 22 (10): 1429–33. DOI:10.1007/s11606-007-0279-0. PMID 17674111. Research Blogging.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Bodenheimer T (2007). "A 63-year-old man with multiple cardiovascular risk factors and poor adherence to treatment plans". JAMA 298 (17): 2048–55. DOI:10.1001/jama.298.17.2048. PMID 17986698. Research Blogging.
- ↑ Steiner JF (2007). "Using stories to disseminate research: the attributes of representative stories". Journal of general internal medicine : official journal of the Society for Research and Education in Primary Care Internal Medicine 22 (11): 1603–7. DOI:10.1007/s11606-007-0335-9. PMID 17763914. Research Blogging.
- ↑ Ancker JS, Kaufman D (2007). "Rethinking Health Numeracy: A Multidisciplinary Literature Review". DOI:10.1197/jamia.M2464. PMID 17712082. Research Blogging.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Parchman ML, Pugh JA, Romero RL, Bowers KW (2007). "Competing demands or clinical inertia: the case of elevated glycosylated hemoglobin". Annals of family medicine 5 (3): 196–201. DOI:10.1370/afm.679. PMID 17548846. Research Blogging.
- ↑ Redelmeier DA, Tan SH, Booth GL (1998). "The treatment of unrelated disorders in patients with chronic medical diseases". N. Engl. J. Med. 338 (21): 1516–20. PMID 9593791. [e]
- ↑ Yarnall KS, Pollak KI, Østbye T, Krause KM, Michener JL (2003). "Primary care: is there enough time for prevention?". American journal of public health 93 (4): 635–41. PMID 12660210. [e]
- ↑ Wilson A, Childs S (2002). "The relationship between consultation length, process and outcomes in general practice: a systematic review". The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners 52 (485): 1012–20. PMID 12528590. [e]
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Geraghty EM, Franks P, Kravitz RL (2007). "Primary care visit length, quality, and satisfaction for standardized patients with depression". J Gen Intern Med 22 (12): 1641–7. DOI:10.1007/s11606-007-0371-5. PMID 17922171. Research Blogging.
- ↑ Solomon J (2008). "How Strategies for Managing Patient Visit Time Affect Physician Job Satisfaction: A Qualitative Analysis". J Gen Intern Med. DOI:10.1007/s11606-008-0596-y. PMID 18365288. Research Blogging.
- ↑ Skinner TC, Barnard K, Cradock S, Parkin T (May 2007). "Patient and professional accuracy of recalled treatment decisions in out-patient consultations". Diabet. Med. 24 (5): 557–60. DOI:10.1111/j.1464-5491.2007.02129.x. PMID 17367303. Research Blogging.
- ↑ Kessels RP (May 2003). "Patients' memory for medical information". J R Soc Med 96 (5): 219–22. PMID 12724430. [e]
- ↑ Jansen J, van Weert J, van der Meulen N, van Dulmen S, Heeren T, Bensing J (April 2008). "Recall in older cancer patients: measuring memory for medical information". Gerontologist 48 (2): 149–57. PMID 18483427. [e]