Doctor-patient communication and cancer patients' quality of life and satisfaction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ong, L. M.; Visser, M. R.; Lammes, F. B.; de Haes, J. C.

2000-01-01

In this study, the relationship between (a) doctor's and patients' communication and (b) doctors' patient-centredness during the oncological consultation and patients' quality of life and satisfaction was examined. Consultations of 96 consecutive cancer patients were recorded and content analysed by

The patient-doctor relationship: a synthesis of the qualitative literature on patients' perspectives.

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Ridd, Matthew; Shaw, Alison; Lewis, Glyn; Salisbury, Chris

2009-04-01

The patient-doctor relationship is an important but poorly defined topic. In order to comprehensively assess its significance for patient care, a clearer understanding of the concept is required. To derive a conceptual framework of the factors that define patient-doctor relationships from the perspective of patients. Systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative studies. Medline, EMBASE, PsychINFO and Web of Science databases were searched. Studies were screened for relevance and appraised for quality. The findings were synthesised using a thematic approach. From 1985 abstracts, 11 studies from four countries were included in the final synthesis. They examined the patient-doctor relationship generally (n = 3), or in terms of loyalty (n = 3), personal care (n = 2), trust (n = 2), and continuity (n = 1). Longitudinal care (seeing the same doctor) and consultation experiences (patients' encounters with the doctor) were found to be the main processes by which patient-doctor relationships are promoted. The resulting depth of patient-doctor relationship comprises four main elements: knowledge, trust, loyalty, and regard. These elements have doctor and patient aspects to them, which may be reciprocally related. A framework is proposed that distinguishes between dynamic factors that develop or maintain the relationship, and characteristics that constitute an ongoing depth of relationship. Having identified the different elements involved, future research should examine for associations between longitudinal care, consultation experiences, and depth of patient-doctor relationship, and, in turn, their significance for patient care.

Doctor-Shopping Behavior among Patients with Eye Floaters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gow-Lieng Tseng

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Patients suffering from eye floaters often resort to consulting more than one ophthalmologist. The purpose of this study, using the Health Belief Model (HBM, was to identify the factors that influence doctor-shopping behavior among patients with eye floaters. In this cross-sectional survey, 175 outpatients who presented floaters symptoms were enrolled. Data from 143 patients (77 first time visitors and 66 doctor-shoppers who completed the questionnaire were analyzed. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were performed. We found that women and non-myopia patients were significantly related with frequent attendance and doctor switching. Though the HBM has performed well in a number of health behaviors studies, but most of the conceptual constructors of HBM did not show significant differences between the first time visitors and true doctor-shoppers in this study. Motivation was the only significant category affecting doctor-shopping behavior of patients with eye floaters.

Doctor-Shopping Behavior among Patients with Eye Floaters.

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Tseng, Gow-Lieng; Chen, Cheng-Yu

2015-07-13

Patients suffering from eye floaters often resort to consulting more than one ophthalmologist. The purpose of this study, using the Health Belief Model (HBM), was to identify the factors that influence doctor-shopping behavior among patients with eye floaters. In this cross-sectional survey, 175 outpatients who presented floaters symptoms were enrolled. Data from 143 patients (77 first time visitors and 66 doctor-shoppers) who completed the questionnaire were analyzed. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were performed. We found that women and non-myopia patients were significantly related with frequent attendance and doctor switching. Though the HBM has performed well in a number of health behaviors studies, but most of the conceptual constructors of HBM did not show significant differences between the first time visitors and true doctor-shoppers in this study. Motivation was the only significant category affecting doctor-shopping behavior of patients with eye floaters.

Terminating the Doctor-Patient Relationship

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Kay, Jarald

1978-01-01

Emotional aspects of ending the physician-patient relationship should be illustrated in clinical teaching courses. Teaching opportunities include examination of this relationship and professional development, unresolved doctor-patient conflicts, role underevaluation, patient gifts, and referral procedures. (Author/LBH)

Patient opinion of the doctor-patient relationship in a public hospital in Qatar.

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Weber, Alan S; Verjee, Mohamud A; Musson, David; Iqbal, Navid A; Mosleh, Tayseer M; Zainel, Abdulwahed A; Al-Salamy, Yassir

2011-03-01

To analyze the factors associated with the level of satisfaction of outpatients in their relationship with their doctor at the largest public hospital in Qatar. This study was a cross-sectional survey of attitudes. Researchers surveyed 626 outpatients at Hamad General Hospital in Doha, Qatar from September 2009 to January 2010 using a novel questionnaire assessing satisfaction with patients' interaction(s) with their doctor (spent time with patient, took case seriously, maintained confidentiality, and the overall quality of visit). Mean responses on 4 Likert scale items (one to 5) were as follows: "spent enough time with patient" = 4.39; "doctor took case seriously" = 4.57; "satisfaction with doctor-patient confidentiality" = 4.71; "overall quality of visit" = 4.46. Age, gender, citizenship, level of education, and number of visits did not significantly impact the level of satisfaction. For 73.1% of patients, the physician's qualification was the most important factor in choosing a doctor. Of those surveyed, 40.7% of men and 28.1% of women preferred to see a doctor of their own gender. A positive correlation between perceived communication and satisfaction with the doctor-patient encounter was established. This study found that patients in the Out-Patient Department at Hamad Hospital were highly satisfied with their relationships with their doctors, and physician qualification was the most significant factor in choosing a doctor. A significant number of males and females preferred a physician of their own gender. Communication difficulty correlated with lower satisfaction.

Doctor's perception of doctor-patient relationships in emergency departments: What roles do gender and ethnicity play?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Borde Theda

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Emergency departments continuously provide medical treatment on a walk-in basis. Several studies investigated the patient's perception of the doctor-patient relationship, but few have asked doctors about their views. Furthermore, the influence of the patient's ethnicity and gender on the doctor's perception remains largely unanswered. Methods Based on data collated in three gynaecology (GYN/internal medicine (INT emergency departments in Berlin, Germany, we evaluated the impact of the patient's gender and ethnicity on the doctors' satisfaction with the course of the treatment they provided. Information was gathered from 2.429 short questionnaires completed by doctors and the medical records of the corresponding patients. Results The patient's ethnicity had a significant impact on the doctors' satisfaction with the doctor-patient relationship. Logistic regression analysis showed that the odds ratio (OR for physician satisfaction was significantly lower for patients of Turkish origin (OR = 2.6 INT and 5.5 GYN than for those of German origin. The main reasons stated were problems with communication and a perceived lack of urgency for emergency treatment. The odds ratios for dissatisfaction due to a lack of language skills were 4.48 (INT and 6.22 (GYN, and those due to perceived lack of urgency for emergency treatment were 0.75 (INT and 0.63 (GYN. Sex differences caused minor variation. Conclusion The results show that good communication despite language barriers is crucial in providing medical care that is satisfactory to both patient and doctors, especially in emergency situations. Therefore the use of professional interpreters for improved communication and the training of medical staff for improved intercultural competence are essential for the provision of adequate health care in a multicultural setting.

[Effect of doctor-patient communication education on oral clinical practice].

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Wang, Yi; Tang, Yu; He, Yan; Zhu, Ya-qin

2012-08-01

To evaluate the effect of doctor-patient communication education on dental clinical practice. The process of 61 dental interns' clinical practice was divided into two stages. The dental interns were taught with traditional teaching method in the first stage. Doctor-patient communication and communication skill training were added to the second stage. Scale of medical student's doctor-patient communication behavior was used to evaluate the dental interns' behavior by themselves after two stages. The SEGUE frame work was used to evaluate the dental interns' behavior by teachers after two stages. All statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 13.0 software package. The result of scale of medical student's doctor-patient communication behavior was analyzed using Fisher exact test or Chi-square test. The score of the SEGUE frame work was analyzed using Student's t test. The result of Scale of medical student's doctor-patient communication behavior showed only 37.71% of dental interns could establish good doctor-patient relationship in the first stage. After doctor-patient communication and communication skill training, the percentage became 75.4%. The result of the SEGUE frame work showed the score was raised from 16.066±3.308 to 21.867±2.456, and a significant difference was found between the two stages. Doctor-Patient communication education can improve dental interns' communication skills and help to establish a good doctor-patient relationship.

[Corruption risks in relations between doctor and patient ].

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Kolwitz, Marcin; Gąsiorowski, Jakub

2014-01-01

The article describes the problem of corruption occurring in the relationship between doctor and patient. The doctor-patient relationship, including the provision of health services, is one of several potential areas of corruption in the health care system. Among the reasons for the existence of corruption in these relationships are the need to obtain better healthcare for the patient, and higher earnings in the case of a doctor. Indications of corruption are utilitarian (action for personal advantage without ethical aspects), but may also be (actually or in the patient's opinion) the only way to obtain services and save health and even life. Corruption between the doctor and the patient can be limited by better organization of the health care system, including the financing of benefits and education of medical personnel and patients, as well as traditional legal measures, such as prevention or the application of criminal sanctions.

The path of patient loyalty and the role of doctor reputation.

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Torres, Eduardo; Vasquez-Parraga, Arturo Z; Barra, Cristobal

2009-01-01

Patient loyalty to doctors is relevant to medical services in which doctor-patient relationships are central and for which competition has increased in recent years. This study aims at understanding the process whereby patients develop loyalty to their doctor and doctor reputation has a moderating role. Based on a randomization of subjects, the study offers and tests an explanation chain representing key variables determining patient loyalty: patient commitment, trust and satisfaction, and doctor reputation. Primary data was collected using a structured questionnaire from a quota sample of regular patients in a large city in South America. The patients most committed to their doctor are more loyal to them. In turn, commitment is determined by patient trust, which is determined by patient satisfaction. Doctor reputation positively influences both patient trust and satisfaction. The explanation chain not only gives an account of how patient loyalty is formed; it also identifies a path health professionals can follow to secure patient loyalty.

Doctors' voices in patients' narratives: coping with emotions in storytelling.

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Lucius-Hoene, Gabriele; Thiele, Ulrike; Breuning, Martina; Haug, Stephanie

2012-09-01

To understand doctors' impacts on the emotional coping of patients, their stories about encounters with doctors are used. These accounts reflect meaning-making processes and biographically contextualized experiences. We investigate how patients characterize their doctors by voicing them in their stories, thus assigning them functions in their coping process. 394 narrated scenes with reported speech of doctors were extracted from interviews with 26 patients with type 2 diabetes and 30 with chronic pain. Constructed speech acts were investigated by means of positioning and narrative analysis, and assigned into thematic categories by a bottom-up coding procedure. Patients use narratives as coping strategies when confronted with illness and their encounters with doctors by constructing them in a supportive and face-saving way. In correspondence with the variance of illness conditions, differing moral problems in dealing with doctors arise. Different evaluative stances towards the same events within interviews show that positionings are not fixed, but vary according to contexts and purposes. Our narrative approach deepens the standardized and predominantly cognitive statements of questionnaires in research on doctor-patient relations by individualized emotional and biographical aspects of patients' perspective. Doctors should be trained to become aware of their impact in patients' coping processes.

Doctor-patient communication: a review of the literature

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ong, L. M.; de Haes, J. C.; Hoos, A. M.; Lammes, F. B.

1995-01-01

Communication can be seen as the main ingredient in medical care. In reviewing doctor-patient communication, the following topics are addressed: (1) different purposes of medical communication; (2) analysis of doctor-patient communication; (3) specific communicative behaviors; (4) the influence of

[Patients' rights--doctors' duties].

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Jaeger, L; Bertram, E; Grate, S; Mischkowsky, T; Paul, D; Probst, J; Scala, E; Wbllenweber, H D

2015-06-01

On 26 February 2013 the new "Law on Patients' Rights" (hereinafter also the "Law") became effective. This Law strengthens patients' rights vis-à-vis the insurdnce company and also regulates patients' rights regarding their relation to the doctor. This has consequences for the laws on medical liability all doctors must consider. The doctor's performance is and remains a service and such service does not hold any guarantee of success. Nevertheless, this Law primarily reads as a "law on the duties of physicians". To duly take into account these duties and to avoid mistakes and misinterpretation of the Law, the Ethics Committee of the Consortium of Osteosynthesis Trauma Germany (AOTRAUMA-D) has drafted comments on the Law. Brief summaries of its effects are to be found at the end of the respective comment under the heading "Consequences for Practice". The text of the law was influenced particularly by case law, as continuously developed by the German Federal Court of Justice ("BGH"). The implementation of the Law on Patients' Rights was effected by the newly inserted sections 630a to 630h of the German Civil Code (the "BGB"), which are analysed below. The following comments are addressed to physicians only and do not deal with the specific requirements and particularities of the other medical professions such as physiotherapy, midwifery and others so on. Special attention should be paid to the comments on the newly inserted Duty to inform, which has to be fullfilled prior to any diagnostic or therapeutic procedure (sec. 630c para 2 sentence 1 BGB). Under certain conditions the doctor also has to inform the patient about the circumstances that lead to the presumed occurance of a therapeutic or diagnostic malpractice (sec. 630c para. 2 sentence 2 BGB), based on the manifestation of an undesired event or an undesired outcome. As before, the patient's valid consent to any procedure (sec. 630d BGB) is directly linked to the comprehensive and timely provision of information

Doctor-patient dialogue--basic aspect of medical consultation.

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Murariu-Brujbu, Isabella Cristina; Macovei, Luana Andreea

2013-01-01

Family medicine is the specialty that provides ongoing primary medical care and improves the health status of the individual, of the family and of the community through preventive, educational, therapeutic and rehabilitation measures. The family doctor often makes the interdisciplinary synthesis, in a flexible manner, either alone or in most cases with interdisciplinary consultation. In the latter case, the family doctor initiates the team work and makes the final evaluation by using the longitudinal follow-up of the disease. The doctor-patient encounter represents the "confrontation" with the greatest moral weight, due to the complexity of the values involved, the status of the doctor in a society, and patient's involvement in decision making. The patient is a person who should be treated with respect, honesty, professionalism and loyalty, whatever the clinical status, severity of illness, mental competence or incompetence. A focus, on an international scale, is represented by the characteristics of a good doctor, family physician included, as the latter is the first link in the network of health services. Each model of consultation varies in a more or less subtle way in priorities assignment, and suggests slight differences regarding the role played by doctor and patient in their collaboration. The qualities of a good family physician include not only the strictly professional competences, that also apply to other medical specialties, but also duties, such as, clearly explaining to patients issues concerning their health, informing them about all the possible preventive measures of diseases, making a diagnosis, initiating and supervising a therapy. Medical responsibility lies at the crossroads between medical science and the conscience of the doctor.

[Doctor-patient relationship in the context of a changing society].

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Siebzehner, Miriam Ines; Balik, Chaya; Matalon, Andre

2008-12-01

During the 20th century doctors gained a special status in the medical system, which is about to change as a consequence of a change in the doctor-patient relationship and in the characteristics of the labor market in health care. Some changes correspond with the adoption of business terms within the medical system. The doctor is represented as a supplier of services, while the patient is a consumer. From patient-centered care, the doctor-patient relationship changed to a costumer-supplier of services, as is the case in other fields of the consumer society. This article analyzes the changes in the patterns of the doctor-patient interactions in the light of the changes in society over the last decades such as: the creation of regulations and laws on patients' rights; the establishment of organizations that represent the sick, the distribution of knowledge and information by means of mass communication, changes in the status of the doctors, the academization of other health professionals and changes in the management of health care to a more financially viable approach to the costs of health.

Argumentation as rational persuasion in doctor-patient communication

OpenAIRE

Rubinelli Sara

2013-01-01

This paper discusses the value of argumentation as an instrument for rational persuasion in doctor patient (and general health professional patient) communication. Argumentation can be used to influence those beliefs that form the basis of an individual's attitudes and decision making process. In the medical context argumentation can be used to legitimize the points of view of the doctor and the patient; to correct add to or modify a patient's set of beliefs; and to enhance the patient's cent...

“Patient-Time,” “Doctor-Time,” and “Institution-Time”: Perceptions and Definitions of Time Among Doctors Who Become Patients

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Klitzman, Robert

2010-01-01

Objective To examine views and experiences of conflicts concerning time in healthcare, from the perspective of physicians who have become patients. Methods We conducted two in-depth semi-structured two-hour interviews concerning experiences of being health care workers, and becoming a patient, with each of 50 doctors who had serious illnesses. Results These doctor-patients often came to realize as they had not before how patients experience time differently, and how “patient-time,” “doctor-time,” and “institution-time” exist and can conflict. Differences arose in both long and short term, regarding historical time (prior eras/decades in medicine), prognosis (months/years), scheduling delays (days/weeks), daily medical events and tasks (hours), and periods in waiting rooms (minutes/hours). Definitions of periods of time (e.g., “fast,” “slow,” “plenty,” and “soon”) also varied widely, and could clash. Professional socialization had heretofore impeded awareness of these differences. Physicians tried to address these conflicts in several ways (e.g., trying to provide test results promptly), though full resolution remained difficult. Conclusions Doctors who became patients often now realized how physicians and patients differ in subjective experiences of time. Medical education and research have not adequately considered these issues, which can affect patient satisfaction, doctor-patient relationships and communication, and care. Practice Implications Physicians need to be more sensitive to how their definitions, perceptions, and experiences concerning time can differ from those of patients. PMID:17125956

How To Talk to Your Doctor (and Get Your Doctor To Talk to You!). An Educational Workshop on Doctor Patient Communication = Como Hablarle a su Doctor (iY que su doctor le hable a usted!). Un seminario educativo sobre la comunicacion entre el doctor y el paciente.

Science.gov (United States)

Baylor Coll. of Medicine, Houston, TX.

This workshop, written in both English and Spanish, focuses on improving communication between physician and patient. In the workshop, the trainers will talk about "building bridges" between patient and doctor by understanding the doctor's role and his/her duty to the patient. According to the workshop, a person's doctor should…

Differential growth in doctor-patient communications skills

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M van Es, Judith; Wieringa-de Waard, Margreet; Visser, Mechteld R. M.

2013-01-01

Although doctor-patient communication is considered a core competency for medical doctors, the effect of training has not been unequivocally established. Moreover, knowledge about the variance in the growth of different skills and whether certain patterns in growth can be detected could help us to

[Gender (role) aspects in doctor-patient communication].

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Sieverding, M; Kendel, F

2012-09-01

Aspects of gender and gender roles are important factors influencing the interactions between physicians and their patients. On the one hand, gender roles have an impact on the behavior of the patients, such as in health care utilization or use of preventive examinations. On the other hand, gender issues influence doctors' actions with respect to communication, diagnosis, and treatment. Here, a gender bias may lead to misdiagnosis and inadequate treatment. In this paper certain pertinent aspects of gender roles in the doctor-patient relationship are discussed and illustrated by empirical findings.

"Seeing a doctor is just like having a date": a qualitative study on doctor shopping among overactive bladder patients in Hong Kong.

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Siu, Judy Yuen-Man

2014-02-06

Although having a regular primary care provider is noted to be beneficial to health, doctor shopping has been documented as a common treatment seeking behavior among chronically ill patients in different countries. However, little research has been conducted into the reasons behind doctor shopping behavior among patients with overactive bladder, and even less into how this behavior relates to these patients' illness and social experiences, perceptions, and cultural practices. Therefore, this study examines overactive bladder patients to investigate the reasons behind doctor shopping behavior. My study takes a qualitative approach, conducting 30 semi-structured individual interviews, with 30 overactive bladder patients in Hong Kong. My study found six primary themes that influenced doctor shopping behavior: lack of perceived need, convenience, work-provided medical insurance, unpleasant experiences with doctors, searching for a match doctor, and switching between biomedicine and traditional Chinese medicine. Besides the perceptual factors, participants' social environment, illness experiences, personal cultural preference, and cultural beliefs also intertwined to generate their doctor shopping behavior. Due to the low perceived need for a regular personal primary care physician, environmental factors such as time, locational convenience, and work-provided medical insurance became decisive in doctor shopping behavior. Patients' unpleasant illness experiences, stemming from a lack of understanding among many primary care doctors about overactive bladder, contributed to participants' sense of mismatch with these doctors, which induced them to shop for another doctor. Overactive bladder is a chronic bladder condition with very limited treatment outcome. Although patients with overactive bladder often require specialty urology treatment, it is usually beneficial for the patients to receive continuous, coordinated, comprehensive, and patient-centered support from their

Doctor-patient-child communication: a (re)view of the literature.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tates, K.; Meeuwesen, L.

2001-01-01

Studies on doctor-patient communication focus predominantly on dyadic interactions between adults; even when the patient is a child, the research focus is usually on doctor-parent interaction. The aim of this review study is to evaluate the state of the art of research into doctor-parent-child

Patients' communication with doctors: a randomized control study of a brief patient communication intervention.

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Talen, Mary R; Muller-Held, Christine F; Eshleman, Kate Grampp; Stephens, Lorraine

2011-09-01

In research on doctor-patient communication, the patient role in the communication process has received little attention. The dynamic interactions of shared decision making and partnership styles which involve active patient communication are becoming a growing area of focus in doctor-patient communication. However, patients rarely know what makes "good communication" with medical providers and even fewer have received coaching in this type of communication. In this study, 180 patients were randomly assigned to either an intervention group using a written communication tool to facilitate doctor-patient communication or to standard care. The goal of this intervention was to assist patients in becoming more effective communicators with their physicians. The physicians and patients both rated the quality of the communication after the office visit based on the patients' knowledge of their health concerns, organizational skills and questions, and attitudes of ownership and partnership. The results supported that patients in the intervention group had significantly better communication with their doctors than patients in the standard care condition. Physicians also rated patients who were in the intervention group as having better overall communication and organizational skills, and a more positive attitude during the office visit. This study supports that helping patients structure their communication using a written format can facilitate doctor-patient communication. Patients can become more adept at describing their health concerns, organizing their needs and questions, and being proactive, which can have a positive effect on the quality of the doctor-patient communication during outpatient office visits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).

[Teaching doctor-patient communication - a proposal in practice].

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Carvalho, Irene P; Ribeiro-Silva, Raquel; Pais, Vanessa G; Figueiredo-Braga, Margarida; Castro-Vale, Ivone; Teles, Ana; Almeida, Susana S; Mota-Cardoso, Rui

2010-01-01

Traditionally, doctor-patient communication was considered a matter of and , and a topic for informal learning. Recently, studies have shown the importance of communication skills in medical practice. Doctor-patient communication skills, such as knowing how to listen, how to observe, and how to inform are today considered important components of Medical Education, although they are often difficult to integrate in Medical Curricula. In the current work, the authors describe the program of Communication in the Doctor-Patient Relationship, initiated in 2001 in the Medical School of the University of Porto, part of its undergraduate program. Future studies will allow us to assess the effectiveness of the learning and application of these skills in clinical practice.

Doctor-patient communication in Southeast Asia: a different culture?

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Claramita, Mora; Nugraheni, Mubarika D F; van Dalen, Jan; van der Vleuten, Cees

2013-03-01

Studies of doctor-patient communication generally advocate a partnership communication style. However, in Southeast Asian settings, we often see a more one-way style with little input from the patient. We investigated factors underlying the use of a one-way consultation style by doctors in a Southeast Asian setting. We conducted a qualitative study based on principles of grounded theory. Twenty residents and specialists and 20 patients of a low or high educational level were interviewed in internal medicine outpatient clinics of an Indonesian teaching hospital and two affiliated hospitals. During 26 weeks we engaged in an iterative interview and coding process to identify emergent factors. Patients were generally dissatisfied with doctors' communication style. The doctors indicated that they did not deliberately use a one-way style. Communication style appeared to be associated with characteristics of Southeast Asian culture, the health care setting and medical education. Doctor-patient communication appeared to be affected by cultural characteristics which fell into two broad categories representing key features of Southeast Asian culture, "social distance" and "closeness of relationships", and to characteristics categorized as "specific clinical context". Consideration of these characteristics could be helpful in promoting the use of a partnership communication style.

The doctor-patient relationship as a toolkit for uncertain clinical decisions.

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Diamond-Brown, Lauren

2016-06-01

Medical uncertainty is a well-recognized problem in healthcare, yet how doctors make decisions in the face of uncertainty remains to be understood. This article draws on interdisciplinary literature on uncertainty and physician decision-making to examine a specific physician response to uncertainty: using the doctor-patient relationship as a toolkit. Additionally, I ask what happens to this process when the doctor-patient relationship becomes fragmented. I answer these questions by examining obstetrician-gynecologists' narratives regarding how they make decisions when faced with uncertainty in childbirth. Between 2013 and 2014, I performed 21 semi-structured interviews with obstetricians in the United States. Obstetricians were selected to maximize variation in relevant physician, hospital, and practice characteristics. I began with grounded theory and moved to analytical coding of themes in relation to relevant literature. My analysis renders it evident that some physicians use the doctor-patient relationship as a toolkit for dealing with uncertainty. I analyze how this process varies for physicians in different models of care by comparing doctors' experiences in models with continuous versus fragmented doctor-patient relationships. My key findings are that obstetricians in both models appealed to the ideal of patient-centered decision-making to cope with uncertain decisions, but in practice physicians in fragmented care faced a number of challenges to using the doctor-patient relationship as a toolkit for decision-making. These challenges led to additional uncertainties and in some cases to poor outcomes for doctors and/or patients; they also raised concerns about the reproduction of inequality. Thus organization of care delivery mitigates the efficacy of doctors' use of the doctor-patient relationship toolkit for uncertain decisions. These findings have implications for theorizing about decision-making under conditions of medical uncertainty, for understanding

Patients' Expectations as to Doctors' Behaviors During Appointed Visits.

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Sobczak, Krzysztof; Leoniuk, Katarzyna; Janaszczyk, Agata; Pietrzykowska, Małgorzata

2017-04-01

Numerous guidelines for students and medical professionals provide the instructions of proper behavior during encounters with patients in a doctor's office. However, they quite often do not consider cultural differences that may affect the doctor-patient relationship. In our study we analyzed Polish patients' expectations (N = 976) for their physicians' actual behavior. We compared our results with analogue studies performed in the United States. We determined that patient expectations concerning a desirable form of verbal and nonverbal communication with a physician vary to a considerable degree. Relatively universal, however, is the wish that the doctors introduce themselves and apply personalized forms of contact.

Depression and doctor-patient communication in the emergency department.

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Haerizadeh, Mytra; Moise, Nathalie; Chang, Bernard P; Edmondson, Donald; Kronish, Ian M

2016-01-01

Depression may adversely affect health outcomes by influencing doctor-patient communication. We aimed to determine the association between depressive symptoms and doctor-patient communication among patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with a suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We enrolled a consecutive sample of 500 patients evaluated for ACS symptoms from the ED of an urban medical center. Depressive symptoms (8-item Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ-8) and doctor-patient communication in the ED (Interpersonal Processes of Care) were assessed during hospitalization. Logistic regression was used to determine the association between depressive symptoms and doctor-patient communication, adjusting for age, sex, race, ethnicity, education, language, health insurance status and comorbidities. Compared to nondepressed patients, depressed patients (PHQ-8≥10) were more likely (Pcommunication on five of seven communication domains: clarity, elicitation of concerns, explanations, patient-centered decision making and discrimination. A greater proportion of depressed versus nondepressed patients reported suboptimal overall communication (39.8% versus 22.9%, Pcommunication (adjusted odds ratio 2.42, 95% confidence interval 1.52-3.87; Pcommunication in the ED than nondepressed patients. Research is needed to determine whether subjectively rated differences in communication are accompanied by observable differences. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Detection of patient psychological distress and longitudinal patient-doctor relationships: a cross-sectional study.

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Ridd, Matthew; Lewis, Glyn; Peters, Tim J; Salisbury, Chris

2012-03-01

Psychological distress in patients who attend their GP is thought to be under-recognised. However, it is likely that both disclosure and detection are influenced by how well the patient and doctor know each another. To examine whether patient-doctor depth of relationship is associated with identification of psychological distress. Cross-sectional study in general practices in and around Bristol, England. Patients (aged ≥16 years) were asked to complete a questionnaire and consent to their electronic medical records being reviewed. Study GPs independently assessed patient psychological distress. Multivariable logistic regression was used to look for associations between patient-doctor depth of relationship and GP detection of patient psychological distress (defined according to the 12-item General Health Questionnaire, GHQ-12). There were 643 eligible appointments with 31 GPs. In total, 541 (84.1%) patients returned questionnaires and 490 (76.2%) consented to their records being reviewed. Patient-doctor depth of relationship was not associated with GP detection of mild to severe patient psychological distress (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.94, 95% CI = 0.87 to 1.02) but, in secondary analyses, it was associated with the identification of moderate to severe distress (adjusted OR 1.13, 95% CI = 1.02 to 1.26). GPs reported more patient psychological distress in patients who reported a greater depth of relationship but this did not relate to patients' GHQ-12 scores. Evidence to support an association between patient-doctor depth of relationship and improved GP detection of patients with psychological distress was weak, except in those patients who GPs thought were more distressed. GPs may overestimate emotional distress in patients who report deeper patient-doctor relationships.

The role of mobile devices in doctor-patient communication: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

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Kashgary, Abdullah; Alsolaimani, Roaa; Mosli, Mahmoud; Faraj, Samer

2017-09-01

Introduction In the last few years, the use of telecommunication and mobile technology has grown significantly. This has led to a notable increase in the utilization of this telecommunication in healthcare, namely phone calls and text messaging (SMS). However, evaluating its global impact on improving healthcare processes and outcomes demands a more comprehensive assessment. In this study, we focused on the role of mobile devices via phone calls and SMS in patient-doctor communication, and aimed to assess its impact on various health outcomes. Methods Major databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Global Health, and Cochrane CENTRAL, were searched for clinical trials that investigated mobile-device technology in any facet of doctor-patient communication published between 1990 and April 2015. A meta-analysis was performed where appropriate. Results Sixty-two articles met our inclusion criteria. Of those, 23 articles investigated mobile appointment reminder technologies, 19 investigated medication adherence, 20 investigated disease-control interventions, and two investigated test-result reporting. Patients who received an appointment reminder were 10% less likely to miss an appointment (relative risk [RR] = 1.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.08-1.15). Mobile interventions increased medication adherence by 22% (RR = 1.22, 95% CI 1.09-1.36). Ten of 20 studies examining disease control reported statistically significant reductions in clinically meaningful endpoints. The use of mobile-device interventions improved forced expiratory volume in one second and hemoglobin A1c percentage in meta-analyses. Conclusion The use of mobile-device technologies exerted modest improvements in communication and health outcomes. Further research is needed to determine the true effect of these technologies on doctor-patient communication.

Responsibility and expectations in antiretroviral therapy--patients' versus doctors' perspective.

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Largu, Maria Alexandra; Dorobăţ, Carmen; Oprea, L; Astărăstoae, V; Manciuc, Carmen

2015-01-01

This paper aims to uncover what patients really expect form ART, and also what infectious diseases doctors expect from a patient's ART regime, thus exploring an important side of adherence to ART. From July to November 2014 we have conducted a qualitative study regarding both patients' and doctors' expectations form the ART. We interviewed 30 patients and 4 doctors. We used semi-structured interviews that were conducted in the Psychosocial Compartment of the HIV/AIDS Regional Center in Iasi. The patients we interviewed came from all 6 counties in the Moldova area. Age varied from 16 years to 59 years; 55% were female and 45% male. 30% came from a rural area. The most common expectations that patients have regarding ART are: "to help me live", "not to make me feel sick", "to be easy to take (not to big, not a lot)", "not to show on the outside what I have on the inside". The infectious diseases doctors that we interviewed work in the HIV/AIDS Regional Center in Iasi. Their expectations regarding an ART regimen for patients were: "to reduce HIV viral load", "to increase CD4 cell count" and "to have minimal impact on the proper functioning of other organs". Patients consider themselves the only factors responsible for their own ART adherence in 56.6% of cases; 20% consider the doctor to be responsible for their adherence, 16.6% feel that their family, friends, and spouse are responsible, and 6.6% (2 patients) couldn't answer. Infectious diseases doctors considered that patients are 100% responsible for adhering to the antiretroviral therapy. In order to assure adherence to the ART it is important to explore both the doctor and the patient's perspective and to find ways to find a common ground in building a healthy relationship.

Children and their parents assessing the doctor-patient interaction: a rating system for doctors' communication skills.

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Crossley, Jim; Eiser, Christine; Davies, Helena A

2005-08-01

Only a patient and his or her family can judge many of the most important aspects of the doctor-patient interaction. This study evaluates the feasibility and reliability of children and their families assessing the quality of paediatricians' interactions using a rating instrument developed specifically for this purpose. A reliability analysis using generalisability theory on the ratings from 352 doctor-patient interactions across different speciality clinics. Ratings were normally distributed. They were highest for 'overall' performance, and lowest for giving time to discuss the families' agenda. An appropriate sample of adults' ratings provided a reliable score (G = 0.7 with 15 raters), but children's ratings were too idiosyncratic to be reproducible (G = 0.36 with 15 raters). CONCLUSIONS AND FURTHER WORK: Accompanying adults can provide reliable ratings of doctors' interactions with children. Because an adult is usually present at the consultation their ratings provide a highly feasible and authentic approach. Sampling doctors' interactions from different clinics and with patients of both genders provides a universal picture of performance. The method is ideal to measure performance for in-training assessment or revalidation. Further work is in progress to evaluate the educational impact of feeding ratings back to the doctors being assessed, and their use in a range of clinical contexts.

The Adequacy of Doctor Patient the Relationship to the Requirements of Validity of the legal Transaction: the Doctor Patient Relationship as legal Phenomenon

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Silvio Romero Beltrão

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This work is interdisciplinary and aims to examine the adequacy of the patient-physician relationship to the requirements of validity of legal business. The doctor-patient relationship needs a complete overview on the elements and requirements that constitute its validity in law. As a starting point analyzes the doctor-patient relationship as a legal fact, to then verify the validity requirements of the patient medical legal business, capable agent, object and lawful manner prescribed by law. Investigating the manifestation of the will as the main element of the legal transaction to define the end of the study the importance of the doctor-patient relationship by law, based on the General Theory of Civil Law.

Patients' choice of general practitioner: importance of patients' and doctors' sex and ethnicity.

OpenAIRE

Ahmad, W I; Kernohan, E E; Baker, M R

1991-01-01

The relative importance of sex and ethnicity in patients' choice of doctor is not known. A total of 1633 consultations at a health centre in Bradford, with a mixed ethnic list, were examined over a four week period to test the relative importance of these variables. Patients had the choice to consult any one of: a male Asian, a male white or a female white doctor. Asian patients, irrespective of sex, were significantly (P less than 0.001) more likely to consult the Asian doctor then either of...

"Seeing a doctor is just like having a date": a qualitative study on doctor shopping among overactive bladder patients in Hong Kong

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Although having a regular primary care provider is noted to be beneficial to health, doctor shopping has been documented as a common treatment seeking behavior among chronically ill patients in different countries. However, little research has been conducted into the reasons behind doctor shopping behavior among patients with overactive bladder, and even less into how this behavior relates to these patients’ illness and social experiences, perceptions, and cultural practices. Therefore, this study examines overactive bladder patients to investigate the reasons behind doctor shopping behavior. Methods My study takes a qualitative approach, conducting 30 semi-structured individual interviews, with 30 overactive bladder patients in Hong Kong. Results My study found six primary themes that influenced doctor shopping behavior: lack of perceived need, convenience, work-provided medical insurance, unpleasant experiences with doctors, searching for a match doctor, and switching between biomedicine and traditional Chinese medicine. Besides the perceptual factors, participants’ social environment, illness experiences, personal cultural preference, and cultural beliefs also intertwined to generate their doctor shopping behavior. Due to the low perceived need for a regular personal primary care physician, environmental factors such as time, locational convenience, and work-provided medical insurance became decisive in doctor shopping behavior. Patients’ unpleasant illness experiences, stemming from a lack of understanding among many primary care doctors about overactive bladder, contributed to participants’ sense of mismatch with these doctors, which induced them to shop for another doctor. Conclusions Overactive bladder is a chronic bladder condition with very limited treatment outcome. Although patients with overactive bladder often require specialty urology treatment, it is usually beneficial for the patients to receive continuous, coordinated

Doctor-patient communication in Southeast Asia: a different culture?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Claramita, M.; Nugraheni, M.D.; Dalen, J. Van; Vleuten, C.P.M. van der

2013-01-01

Studies of doctor-patient communication generally advocate a partnership communication style. However, in Southeast Asian settings, we often see a more one-way style with little input from the patient. We investigated factors underlying the use of a one-way consultation style by doctors in a

The doctor-patient relationship in living donor kidney transplantation.

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Danovitch, Gabriel M

2007-11-01

A therapeutic and effective doctor-patient relationship and patient-doctor relationship is at the core of all successful medical care. The medical and psychological evaluation of a potential kidney donor serves to protect the long-term health of both the donor and the potential recipient. Careful assessment of risk and donor education is at the core of donor evaluation and the decision to progress with donation requires refined clinical judgment by the medical team and critical thinking by the donor. Increasing pressure to increase the numbers of living donor transplants and suggestions by some that the process should be commercialized make it timely to consider the nature of the relationship between the doctor and the patient in the unusual circumstance of living donation. A high rate of complications in recipients of purchased kidneys and a lack of knowledge of the fate of paid donors have been reported. Commercialization of transplantation undermines the therapeutic doctor-patient relationship and threatens the healthy development of the international transplant endeavor.

Information from the Internet and the doctor-patient relationship: the patient perspective – a qualitative study

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Murray Elizabeth

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Both doctors and patients may perceive the Internet as a potential challenge to existing therapeutic relationships. Here we examine patients' views of the effect of the Internet on their relationship with doctors. Methods We ran 8 disease specific focus groups of between 2 and 8 respondents comprising adult patients with diabetes mellitus, ischaemic heart disease or hepatitis C. Results Data are presented on (i the perceived benefits and (ii limitations of the Internet in the context of the doctor-patient relationship, (iii views on sharing information with doctors, and (iv the potential of the Internet for the future. Information from the Internet was particularly valued in relation to experiential knowledge. Conclusion Despite evidence of increasing patient activism in seeking information and the potential to challenge the position of the doctor, the accounts here do not in any way suggest a desire to disrupt the existing balance of power, or roles, in the consultation. Patients appear to see the Internet as an additional resource to support existing and valued relationships with their doctors. Doctors therefore need not feel challenged or threatened when patients bring health information from the Internet to a consultation, rather they should see it as an attempt on the part of the patient to work with the doctor and respond positively.

A critical ethnography of doctor-patient interaction in southern Iran.

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Sadati, Ahmad Kalateh; Iman, Mohammad Taghi; Lankarani, Kamran Bagheri; Derakhshan, Soghra

2016-01-01

Doctor-patient interaction is a subject with ethical ramifications, besides being an important issue in medical sociology. The main goal of this critical study is to explore the interactional experience of hospital admitted patients. For this reason, the study, carried out in an educational hospital in southern Iran, entailed 156 recorded clinical consultations, 920 hours of participant observation, and six focus groups consisting of patients and their families. The research method used is Critical Ethnography, which was introduced by PF Carspecken. The results showed that negative interactional experience was common among the participants. Six related themes were: doctors' inattentiveness; weak interaction; violation of patients' privacy; unjustified pain; long waiting period and ambiguity; and faceless physicians. According to the participants' observations, poor interaction with doctors has led to these negative experiences. The findings showed that doctors were inconsiderate about patients' concerns and due to this, patients were dissatisfied. Theoretically, this form of fragmented collaboration has deep roots in the framework of modern medicine, but in the context of this study, the intensity of the fragmentation between doctors and patients was observed to be intolerable. To solve this problem, models of patient-centredness and narrative medicine are recommended. In addition, the health system should monitor and evaluate the observance of ethics by physicians.

Attitude and practice of patients and doctors towards complementary and alternative medicine.

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Junaid, Rabyyan; Abaas, Mustafa; Fatima, Batool; Anis, Irma; Hussain, Mehwish

2012-08-01

To determine the attitude towards complementary and alternative medicine among the doctors and patients. The study was carried out at Civil Hospital Karachi and Liaquat National University Hospital, Karachi during April to September 2010. Two sets of questionnaires were developed separately for doctors and patients. Each set consisted of queries regarding demographic data of patients and doctors. The questionnaire for the patients contained questions reflecting the general attitude, mode of complimentary and alternative medicine usage, disease referred and the underlined reasons behind pricking the options. The questionnaires for doctors in general laid focus on the personal opinion about the practice not only for their own use, but also related to their concern towards those patients who used complimentary and alternative medicine. Predictive analysis software statistics 18 was used for statistical analysis. Of the patients, 237 (59.3%) used complimentary and alternative medicine. Herbal medicine followed by homeopathic medicine were the most commonly used therapies. Fever and cough were the most common diseases for which patients used the options. The preference was mainly based on inter-personal communications, reliance on complimentary and alternative medicine, and financial restriction. Concealing from the doctors was common in patients. Only 62 (34.4%) out of 180 doctors used complimentary and alternative medicine themselves. Refusal by other doctors was because they considered the option ineffective, obsolete and unsatisfactory. About half of the doctors forbade the patients to use such therapies, but 31% (n=73) patients ignored the doctor's advice. The use of complimentary and alternative medicine is highly prevalent in our society by patients irrespective of their social class. Preference for such therapies, on the other hand, is quite low among medical doctors as they consider allopathic medicine to be effective.

Teaching and Assessing Doctor-Patient Communication Using Remote Standardized Patients and SKYPE: Feedback from Medical Residents

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Horber, Dot; Langenau, Erik E.; Kachur, Elizabeth

2014-01-01

Teaching and assessing doctor-patient communication has become a priority in medical education. This pilot study evaluated resident physicians' perceptions of teaching and assessing doctor-patient communication skills related to pain management using a web-based format. Fifty-nine resident physicians completed four doctor-patient clinical…

Critical and Creative Thinking Nexus: Learning Experiences of Doctoral Students

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Brodin, Eva M.

2016-01-01

Critical and creative thinking constitute important learning outcomes at doctoral level across the world. While the literature on doctoral education illuminates this matter through the lens of experienced senior researchers, the doctoral students' own perspective is missing. Based upon interviews with 14 doctoral students from four disciplines at…

Intercultural doctor-patient communication in daily outpatient care: relevant communication skills.

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Paternotte, Emma; Scheele, Fedde; Seeleman, Conny M; Bank, Lindsay; Scherpbier, Albert J J A; van Dulmen, Sandra

2016-10-01

Intercultural communication (ICC) between doctors and patients is often associated with misunderstandings and dissatisfaction. To develop ICC-specific medical education, it is important to find out which ICC skills medical specialists currently apply in daily clinical consultations. Doctor-patient consultations of Dutch doctors with non-Dutch patients were videotaped in a multi-ethnic hospital in the Netherlands. The consultations were analyzed using the validated MAAS-Global assessment list in combination with factors influencing ICC, as described in the literature. In total, 39 videotaped consultations were analyzed. The doctors proved to be capable of practising many communication skills, such as listening and empathic communication behaviour. Other skills were not practised, such as being culturally aware and checking the patient's language ability. We showed that doctors did practice some but not all the relevant ICC skills and that the ICC style of the doctors was mainly biomedically centred. Furthermore, we discussed the possible overlap between intercultural and patient-centred communication. Implications for practice could be to implement the relevant ICC skills in the existing communication training or develop a communication training with a patient-centred approach including ICC skills.

[Patient - doctor relationship from perspective of the Karpman drama triangle].

Science.gov (United States)

Samborska-Sablik, Anna; Sablik, Zbigniew

2016-11-25

Patients' confidence in doctors has been decreased for last years despite successes of Polish medicine. It seems to be related to particular conditions of patient - doctor relationship and patient's negative emotions may frequently burden it from the beginning. They may allow an interpersonal game, the Drama Triangle, to appear in the relationship. 3 persons are typically involved in the game: a victim, a persecutor and a rescuer. All of them neither feel guilty about the situation nor their activities are aimed at solving the crucial problem. It maintains continuation of the game. Both patient and doctor are capable to attend the game as any of the person mentioned above. Authors of the article think frameworks of organization of the health care system should permit doctors not only to tackle main disease but also to devote time individually tailored to patient's emotional problems. © 2016 MEDPRESS.

Doctor-Patient Communication in Southeast Asia: A Different Culture?

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Claramita, Mora; Nugraheni, Mubarika D. F.; van Dalen, Jan; van der Vleuten, Cees

2013-01-01

Studies of doctor-patient communication generally advocate a partnership communication style. However, in Southeast Asian settings, we often see a more one-way style with little input from the patient. We investigated factors underlying the use of a one-way consultation style by doctors in a Southeast Asian setting. We conducted a qualitative…

Patient satisfaction with doctor-patient interactions: a mixed methods study among diabetes mellitus patients in Pakistan.

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Jalil, Aisha; Zakar, Rubeena; Zakar, Muhammad Zakria; Fischer, Florian

2017-02-21

Patient satisfaction with doctor-patient interactions is an indicator of physicians' competence. The satisfaction of diabetes patients is rarely studied in public diabetes clinics of Pakistan. Thus, this study aims to analyse the association between patient satisfaction and five dimensions of medical interaction: technical expertise, interpersonal aspects, communication, consultation time, and access/availability. A cross-sectional mixed methods study was conducted during July and August 2015 in the largest public diabetes outpatient clinic in Punjab province. We used the criterion sampling method to identify 1164 patients who: (i) were adult (18 years and above), (ii) had diabetes mellitus, (iii) had made at least three previous visits to the same clinic. The data was collected through face-to-face interviews. The structured part of the questionnaire was based on demographic characteristics and the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ-III). We translated the questionnaire into Urdu and pretested it with 25 patients in a similar context. Data storage and analysis were carried out using SPSS (version 22.0). Bivariate analyses and multinomial logistic regression model were used to generate the quantitative findings. Out of the 1164 eligible patients approached for interviews, 1095 patients completed the structured questionnaire and 186 respondents provided qualitative information in comments section. We conducted a thematic content analysis of qualitative responses in order to explain the quantitative findings. Demographic characteristics such as gender, education and occupation were significantly associated with the levels of patient satisfaction. The dimensions of doctor-patient interaction were significantly associated with patient satisfaction: technical expertise (OR = .87; 95% CI = .84-.91), interpersonal aspects (OR = .82; 95% CI = .77-.87), communication (OR = .83; 95% CI = .78-.89), time dimension (OR = .90; 95% CI = .81

Quality of Doctor-Patient Communication through the Eyes of the Patient: Variation According to the Patient's Educational Level

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Aelbrecht, Karolien; Rimondini, Michela; Bensing, Jozien; Moretti, Francesca; Willems, Sara; Mazzi, Mariangela; Fletcher, Ian; Deveugele, Myriam

2015-01-01

Good doctor-patient communication may lead to better compliance, higher patient satisfaction, and finally, better health. Although the social variance in how physicians and patients communicate is clearly demonstrated, little is known about what patients with different educational attainments actually prefer in doctor-patient communication. In…

Patients' preferences for doctors' attire in Japan.

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Yamada, Yasuhiro; Takahashi, Osamu; Ohde, Sachiko; Deshpande, Gautam A; Fukui, Tsuguya

2010-01-01

Physicians' attire is one important factor to enhance the physician-patient relationship. However, there are few studies that examine patients' preferences for physicians' attire in Japan. We sought to assess patients' preference regarding doctors' attire and to assess the influence of doctors' attire on patients' confidence in their physician. Furthermore, we examined whether patients' preferences would change among various clinical situations. Employing a cross-sectional design, Japanese outpatients chosen over one week in October 2008 from waiting rooms in various outpatient departments at St. Luke's International Hospital, Tokyo, were given a 10-item questionnaire. A 5-point Likert scale was used to estimate patient preference for four types of attire in both male and female physicians, including semi-formal attire, white coat, surgical scrubs, and casual wear. In addition, a 4-point Likert Scale was used to measure the influence of doctors' attire on patient confidence. Japanese outpatients consecutively chosen from waiting rooms at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo for one week in October 2008. Of 2,272 outpatients enrolled, 1483 (67.1%) of respondents were women. Mean age of subjects was 53.8 years (SD 16.2 years). Respondents most preferred the white coat (mean rank: 4.18, SD: 0.75) and preferred casual attire the least (mean rank: 2.32, SD: 0.81). For female physicians, 1.4% of respondents ranked the white coat little/least preferred while 64.7% of respondents ranked casual wear little/least preferred. Among respondents who most preferred the white coat for physician attire, perceived hygiene (62.7%) and inspiring confidence (59.3%) were important factors for doctor's attire. Around 70% of all respondents reported that physicians' attire has an influence on their confidence in their physician. This study confirms that Japanese outpatients prefer a white coat. Furthermore, this study strongly suggests that wearing a white coat could favorably

Analysis of doctor-patient relationship status and its influencing factors of the tertiary hospital in Suzhou

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Bing-yi WANG

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Objective: To investigate the relationship between doctors and patients in Suzhou, we focused on exploring the factors of doctor-patient communication, and strived to deepen the doctor-patient communication skills and knowledge. Method: Questionnaire survey was carried out in comprehensive tertiary-class hospitals in Suzhou , adopting the method of random sampling, respectively on patients and doctors. Results: 593 valid questionnaires were from both doctors and patients. The doctors thought that the current doctor-patient relationship  "good" and above accounted for 32% (31/98.At the meanwhile, in the patients, this proportion was 45% (223/495.There was statistically significance between the difference(P ＜0.05.Only 6% doctors thought that the communication between doctors and patients is not important; in the patients, the ratio was 10%. Among the doctors, the top three factors of doctor-patient communication were: lack of communication skills, too much tasks and not enough time and energy, not good attitude. Among patients, the top three factors were: incomprehension and distrust of the doctors, the poor understanding for medical knowledge and the low cultural level. Conclusion: In the first-class hospitals of Suzhou, the relationship between doctors and patients had a relatively good development trend. There were some problems in the communication between doctors and patients. We should enhance the doctor-patient communication, and build a harmonious doctor-patient relationship.

The impact of email as a communicative medium on the doctor-patient relationship

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Matilde Nisbeth; Fage-Butler, Antoinette Mary

Background and objective: Although theoretical perspectives on the doctor-patient relationship have characteristically assumed the temporal and physical co-presence of doctor and patient, the advent of email in doctor-patient communication has brought with it a different communicative reality. New...... technologies come with significant implications as, amongst other things, they impose practices and identities on participants (Malater 2007). The purpose of this integrative literature review is thus to investigate how the advent of email as a medium of communication affects the doctor-patient relationship...... of the medium, convenience, freedom from the clinical gaze, pseudo-anonymity and greater opportunities for reflection, whilst doctors express concerns about confidentiality, time and the challenge of conveying empathy electronically. Implications: The impact of email on the doctor-patient relationship has...

Survey of Doctors' Experience of Patients Using the Internet

OpenAIRE

Potts, Henry W. W; Wyatt, Jeremy C

2002-01-01

Background There have been many studies showing the variable quality of Internet health information and it has often been assumed that patients will blindly follow this and frequently come to harm. There have also been reports of problems for doctors and health services following patient Internet use, but their frequency has not been quantified. However, there have been no large, rigorous surveys of the perceptions of Internet-aware doctors about the actual benefits and harms to their patient...

Doctor?patient communication in Southeast Asia: a different culture?

OpenAIRE

Claramita, Mora; Nugraheni, Mubarika D. F.; van Dalen, Jan; van der Vleuten, Cees

2012-01-01

Studies of doctor?patient communication generally advocate a partnership communication style. However, in Southeast Asian settings, we often see a more one-way style with little input from the patient. We investigated factors underlying the use of a one-way consultation style by doctors in a Southeast Asian setting. We conducted a qualitative study based on principles of grounded theory. Twenty residents and specialists and 20 patients of a low or high educational level were interviewed in in...

Instrumental and socioemotional communications in doctor-patient interactions in urban and rural clinics.

Science.gov (United States)

Desjarlais-deKlerk, Kristen; Wallace, Jean E

2013-07-08

Location of practice, such as working in a rural or urban clinic, may influence how physicians communicate with their patients. This exploratory pilot study examines the communication styles used during doctor-patient interactions in urban and rural family practice settings in Western Canada. We analyzed observation and interview data from four physicians practicing in these different locations. Using a grounded theory approach, communications were categorized as either instrumental or socioemotional. Instrumental communication refers to "cure-oriented interactions" and tends to be more task-oriented focusing on the patient's health concerns and reason for the appointment. In contrast, socioemotional communication refers to more "care-oriented interactions" that may make the patient feel comfortable, relieve patient anxiety and build a trusting relationship. The physicians in small, rural towns appear to know their patients and their families on a more personal level and outside of their office, and engage in more socioemotional communications compared to those practicing in suburban clinics in a large urban centre. Knowing patients outside the clinic seems to change the nature of the doctor-patient interaction, and, in turn, the doctor-patient relationship itself. Interactions between urban doctors and their patients had a mixture of instrumental and socioemotional communications, while interactions between rural doctors and their patients tended to be highly interpersonal, often involving considerable socioemotional communication and relationship-building. Despite the different ways that doctors and patients communicate with each other in the two settings, rural and urban doctors spend approximately the same amount of time with their patients. Thus, greater use of socioemotional communication by rural doctors, which may ease patient anxiety and increase patient trust, did not appear to add extra time to the patient visit. Research suggests that socioemotional

Instrumental and socioemotional communications in doctor-patient interactions in urban and rural clinics

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Location of practice, such as working in a rural or urban clinic, may influence how physicians communicate with their patients. This exploratory pilot study examines the communication styles used during doctor-patient interactions in urban and rural family practice settings in Western Canada. Methods We analyzed observation and interview data from four physicians practicing in these different locations. Using a grounded theory approach, communications were categorized as either instrumental or socioemotional. Instrumental communication refers to “cure-oriented interactions” and tends to be more task-oriented focusing on the patient’s health concerns and reason for the appointment. In contrast, socioemotional communication refers to more “care-oriented interactions” that may make the patient feel comfortable, relieve patient anxiety and build a trusting relationship. Results The physicians in small, rural towns appear to know their patients and their families on a more personal level and outside of their office, and engage in more socioemotional communications compared to those practicing in suburban clinics in a large urban centre. Knowing patients outside the clinic seems to change the nature of the doctor-patient interaction, and, in turn, the doctor-patient relationship itself. Interactions between urban doctors and their patients had a mixture of instrumental and socioemotional communications, while interactions between rural doctors and their patients tended to be highly interpersonal, often involving considerable socioemotional communication and relationship-building. Conclusions Despite the different ways that doctors and patients communicate with each other in the two settings, rural and urban doctors spend approximately the same amount of time with their patients. Thus, greater use of socioemotional communication by rural doctors, which may ease patient anxiety and increase patient trust, did not appear to add extra time to the patient

[The current problems and cross-cultural perspectives of patient-doctor relation: an overview].

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Koch, Eckhardt; Turgut, Tolga

2004-01-01

The success of the treatment in medicine, especially in psychiatry is based on the form and the strength of the patient-doctor relation. This complex and dynamic relation is changing in accordance with the social and technological development of the society. The context of the patient-doctor relation is determined by the present day culture as well as the traditional background. An overview of current patient-doctor relation and of problems that physicians and in particular psychiatrists meet is presented. Physicians have responsibilities in building patient-doctor relation. The ethical and legal aspects of these responsibilities are presented. The former paternalistic type of patient-doctor relation is evolving into a more equal and democratic relation. New problems are being encountered continuously in the changing process. Beside the of the process itself, the effects of progress in medical technology and communication systems on patient-doctor relation and the pressure, put from the insurance companies and/or authorities on physicians, which impair the trust between the physician and his patient, are making the process more difficult. The issues of compliance, sexual harassment and unique problems of patient-doctor relations in psychiatry are the other subtopics in the article. The cross-cultural aspects of patient-doctor relations and encountered clinical problems are discussed with case examples particularly about Turkish immigrants, who live in Germany. Suggestions for psychiatrists in Germany to work out the challenges facing them are presented in the conclusion.

Patterns and Outcome of Missed Injuries in Egyptians Polytrauma Patients

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Adel Hamed Elbaih

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: “polytrauma” patients are higher risk of complications and death than the summation of expected mortality and morbidity of their individual injuries. The ideal goal in trauma resuscitation care is to identify and treat all injuries. With clinical and technological advanced imaging available for diagnosis and treatment of traumatic patients, missed injuries still significant affect modern trauma services and its outcome. Aim: to improve outcome and determine the incidence and nature of missed injuries in polytrauma patients. Methods: the study is a cross-sectional, prospective study included 600 polytraumatized patients admitted in Suez Canal University Hospital. Firstly assessed and treated accordingly to Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS guidelines and treat the life threading conditions if present with follow-up short outcome for 28 days. Results: The most common precipitate factor for missed injuries in my study was clinical evaluation error due to Inadequate diagnostic workup in 42.9%. And the second risk factor was Deficiency in Physical Examination in 35.7%. Lastly Incomplete assessment due to patient instability in 10.7% and incorrect interpretation of imaging10.7%.low rates of missed injuries (40.8% in patients arriving during the day compared with (59.2% of night arrivals. Conclusion: the incidence of missed injuries in the study is 9.0 % which is still high compared to many trauma centers. And mostly increase the period of stay in the hospital and affect the outcome of polytrauma patients.

Factors influencing intercultural doctor-patient communication: a realist review.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Paternotte, E.; Dulmen, S. van; Lee, N. van der; Scherpbier, A.J.J.A.; Scheele, F.

2015-01-01

Objective: Due to migration, doctors see patients from different ethnic backgrounds. This causes challenges for the communication. To develop training programs for doctors in intercultural communication (ICC), it is important to know which barriers and facilitators determine the quality of ICC. This

How do patients define "good" and "bad" doctors? - Qualitative approach to the representations of hospital patients

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Luthy, C; Cedraschi, C; Perrin, E; Allaz, AF

2005-01-01

Questions under study: Knowledge of hospital patients' perceptions of doctors' qualities is limited. The purpose of this study was to explore hospital patients' definitions of "good" and "bad" doctors. Methods: Semi-structured interviews conducted with 68 consecutive hospital patients. The questions

Quality of doctor-patient communication through the eyes of the patient: variation according to the patient's educational level.

Science.gov (United States)

Aelbrecht, Karolien; Rimondini, Michela; Bensing, Jozien; Moretti, Francesca; Willems, Sara; Mazzi, Mariangela; Fletcher, Ian; Deveugele, Myriam

2015-10-01

Good doctor-patient communication may lead to better compliance, higher patient satisfaction, and finally, better health. Although the social variance in how physicians and patients communicate is clearly demonstrated, little is known about what patients with different educational attainments actually prefer in doctor-patient communication. In this study we describe patients' perspective in doctor-patient communication according to their educational level, and to what extent these perspectives lean towards the expert opinion on doctor-patient communication. In a multi-center study (Belgium, The Netherlands, UK and Italy), focus group discussions were organised using videotaped medical consultations. A mixed methods approach was used to analyse the data. Firstly, a difference in perspective in communication style was found between the lower educated participants versus the middle and higher educated participants. Secondly, lower educated participants referred positively most to aspects related to the affective/emotional area of the medical consultation, followed by the task-oriented/problem-focused area. Middle and higher educated participants positively referred most to the task-oriented/problem-focused area. The competency of the physician was an important category of communication for all participants, independent of social background. The results indicate that the preferences of lower educated participants lean more towards the expert opinion in doctor-patient communication than the middle and higher educated participants. Patients' educational level seems to influence their perspective on communication style and should be taken into account by physicians. Further quantitative research is needed to confirm these results.

Analysis of doctor-patient relationship status and its influencing factors of the tertiary hospital in Suzhou

OpenAIRE

Bing-yi WANG; Teng XIA; Xiao-tian YAN; Yi-cheng SHEN; Jia-ning WANG; Ya-na MA

2014-01-01

Objective: To investigate the relationship between doctors and patients in Suzhou, we focused on exploring the factors of doctor-patient communication, and strived to deepen the doctor-patient communication skills and knowledge. Method: Questionnaire survey was carried out in comprehensive tertiary-class hospitals in Suzhou , adopting the method of random sampling, respectively on patients and doctors. Results: 593 valid questionnaires were from both doctors and patients. The doctors thought ...

Transforming doctor-patient relationships to promote patient-centered care: lessons from palliative care.

Science.gov (United States)

Yedidia, Michael J

2007-01-01

Palliative care was studied for its potential to yield lessons for transforming doctor-patient relationships to promote patient-centered care. Examination of patient and provider experiences of the transition from curative to palliative care promises valuable insights about establishing and maintaining trust as the goals of care shift and about addressing a broad spectrum of patient needs. The study was guided by a conceptual framework grounded in existing models to address five dimensions of doctor-patient relationships: range of needs addressed, source of authority, maintenance of trust, emotional involvement, and expression of authenticity. Data collection included observation of the care of 40 patients in the inpatient hospice unit and at home, interviews with patients and family members, and in-depth interviews with 22 physicians and two nurses providing end-of-life care. Standard qualitative procedures were used to analyze the data, incorporating techniques for maximizing the validity of the results and broadening their relevance to other contexts. Findings provide evidence for challenging prominent assumptions about possibilities for doctor-patient relationships: questioning the merits of the prohibition on emotional involvement, dependence on protocols for handling difficult communication issues, unqualified reliance on consumer empowerment to assure that care is responsive to patients' needs, and adoption of narrowly defined boundaries between medical and social service systems in caring for patients. Medical education can play a role in preparing doctors to assume new roles by openly addressing management of emotions in routine clinical work, incorporating personal awareness training, facilitating reflection on interactions with patients through use of standardized patients and videotapes, and expanding capacity to effectively address a broad range of needs through teamwork training.

Socio-cultural difference in doctor-patient communication in the European countries.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brink-Muinen, A. van den; Meeuwesen, L.

2003-01-01

Aims: In medical encounters, good doctor-patient communication is of utmost importance in the health care process. The influence of doctor, patients and organizational charactersitics has been showed in many studies. Scarce studies have indicated the importance of cultural characteristics on

Should doctors provide futile medical treatment if patients or their ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Ethically and legally doctors are not obliged to provide futile treatment to patients, even if the patient or their proxies are prepared to pay for it. However, it may be justified where such treatment is harmless and has a placebo effect. In deciding about a request for futile treatment, doctors should be guided by the ethical ...

Doctors' tacit knowledge on coping processes of oral cancer patients: A qualitative study.

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Rana, Madiha; Czens, Franziska; Wingartz, Franziska; Gellrich, Nils-Claudius; Rana, Majeed

2016-12-01

The implicit knowledge of doctors about coping, quality of life and factors which have an influence on these aspects were investigated. In addition, they were asked about the need for psychological support in clinical practice. Doctors (n = 40) working in the field of oral and maxillofacial surgery, otorhinolaryngology and oncology were interviewed about coping and quality of life of patients, the course of therapy and experiences in the doctor-patient interaction based on a semi-structured interview. The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Hundred percent of the doctors pointed out that patients with oral cancer are a special clientele which definitely needs to have psycho-oncological support. Eighty seven percent of the doctors divide their patients based on their style of coping into two groups: the one who are depressive and do not cope well and active patients who are able to stand their diagnosis. Ninety five percent of the doctors cite personality and social support as key factors affecting the quality of life and style of coping. Lack of time and lack of support from psychologists were given as the main obstacle for holistic treatment. Doctors have very specific ideas about the coping mechanisms and problems of their patients. These theories may have an impact on the doctor-patient relationship and should be considered in more detail. Copyright © 2016 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysing the doctor_patient_computer relationship: the use of video data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher Pearce

2006-12-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the utility of using digital video data in observational studies involving doctors' and patients' use of computers in the consultation. Previous observational studies have used either direct observations or analogue videotapes. We describe a method currently in use in a study examining how doctors, patients and computers interact in the consultation. The study is set in general practice as this is the most clinically computerised section of the Australian healthcare system. Computers are now used for clinical functions in 90% of doctors' surgeries. With this rapid rise of computerisation, concerns have been expressed as to how the computer will affect the doctor_patient relationship. To assess how doctors, patients and computers interact, we have chosen an observational technique, namely to make digital videotapes of actual consultations. This analysis is based on a theoretical framework derived from dramaturgical analysis. Data are gathered from general practitioners who are high-level users of computers, as defined by their use of progress notes, as well as prescribing and test ordering. The subsequent digital data is then transferred onto computer and analysed according to our conceptual framework, making use of video-tagging software.

Doctor-patient communication and cancer patients' choice of alternative therapies as supplement or alternative to conventional care.

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Salamonsen, Anita

2013-03-01

Cancer patients' use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is widespread, despite the fact that clinical studies validating the efficacy of CAM remain sparse in the Nordic countries. The purpose of this study was to explore possible connections between cancer patients' communication experiences with doctors and the decision to use CAM as either supplement or alternative to conventional treatment (CT). The Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics and the Norwegian Data Inspectorate approved the study. From a group of 52 cancer patients with self-reported positive experiences from use of CAM, 13 were selected for qualitative interviews. Six used CAM as supplement, and seven as alternative to CT, periodically or permanently. Communication experiences with 46 doctors were described. The analysis revealed three connections between doctor-patient communication and patients' treatment decisions: (i) negative communication experiences because of the use of CAM; (ii) negative communication experiences resulted in the decision to use CAM, and in some cases to decline CT; and (iii) positive communication experiences led to the decision to use CAM as supplement, not alternative to CT. The patients, including the decliners of CT, wanted to discuss treatment decisions in well-functioning interpersonal processes with supportive doctors. In doctors' practices and education of doctors, a greater awareness of potential positive and negative outcomes of doctor-patient communication that concern CAM issues could be of importance. More research is needed to safeguard CAM users' treatment decisions and their relationship to conventional health care. © 2012 The Author. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences © 2012 Nordic College of Caring Science.

Why Patients Miss Follow-Up Appointments: A Prospective Control ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Reasons include: transport (19 responses), ill-health (6) and financial constraints (5). State transport was unavailable to almost twothirds of the responders who cited transport as a problem. Conclusions: The 17% missed appointment rate is largely due to transport constraints. The commonest time for patients to miss ...

Empathy and the wounded healer: a mixed-method study of patients and doctors views on empathy.

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Brady, C; Bambury, R M; O'Reilly, S

2015-04-01

Empathy is increasingly being recognized as a crucial component for an effective doctor-patient relationship. Using a mixed method approach, we surveyed 125 patients and 361 medical practitioners (doctors and medical students) views of the doctor-patient relationship. We qualitatively assessed patients' views of what constituted a good doctor and qualitatively measured empathy using a validated scale in medical practitioners. Patients desire a doctor that is both clinically proficient 66 (55%) and caring 32 (27%). Doctors who have a personal experience of illness have a statistically higher empathy score. These doctors may be well placed to help develop and foster empathy in our profession.

Doctor-patient communication: a comparison between telemedicine consultation and face-to-face consultation.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xiao; Sawada, Yoshie; Takizawa, Takako; Sato, Hiroko; Sato, Mahito; Sakamoto, Hironosuke; Utsugi, Toshihiro; Sato, Kunio; Sumino, Hiroyuki; Okamura, Shinichi; Sakamaki, Tetsuo

2007-01-01

The objective of this study was to compare doctor-patient communications in clinical consultations via telemedicine technology to doctor-patient communications in face-to-face clinical consultations. Five doctors who had been practicing internal medicine for 8 to 18 years, and twenty patients were enrolled in this study; neither doctors nor patients had previous experience of telemedicine. The patients received both a telemedicine consultation and a face-to-face consultation. Three measures--video observation, medical record volume, and participants' satisfaction--were used for the assessment. It was found that the time spent on the telemedicine consultation was substantially longer than the time spent on the face-to-face consultation. No statistically significant differences were found in the number of either closed or open-ended questions asked by doctors between both types of consultation. Empathy-utterances, praise-utterances, and facilitation-utterances were, however, seen less in the telemedicine consultations than in the face-to-face consultations. The volume of the medical records was statistically smaller in the telemedicine consultations than in the face-to-face consultations. Patients were satisfied with the telemedicine consultation, but doctors were dissatisfied with it and felt hampered by the communication barriers. This study suggests that new training programs are needed for doctors to develop improved communication skills and the ability to express empathy in telemedicine consultations.

Harm to patients and others caused by impaired junior doctors ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Creative Commons licence CC-BY-NC 4.0. Harm to patients and ... enjoining doctors to 'self-report' impairment, the HPCSA Handbook on Internship .... e.g. where doctors have car accidents while driving home because they are not provided ...

Bone scan as a screening test for missed fractures in severely injured patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, K-J; Jung, K; Kim, J; Kwon, J

2014-12-01

In many cases, patients with severe blunt trauma have multiple fractures throughout the body. These fractures are not often detectable by history or physical examination, and their diagnosis can be delayed or even missed. Thus, screening test fractures of the whole body is required after initial management. We performed this study to evaluate the reliability of bone scans for detecting missed fractures in patients with multiple severe traumas and we analyzed the causes of missed fractures by using bone scan. A bone scan is useful as a screening test for fractures of the entire body of severe trauma patients who are passed the acute phase. We reviewed the electronic medical records of severe trauma patients who underwent a bone scan from September 2009 to December 2010. Demographic and medical data were compared and statistically analyzed to determine whether missed fractures were detected after bone scan in the two groups. A total of 382 patients who had an injury severity score [ISS] greater than 16 points with multiple traumas visited the emergency room. One hundred and thirty-one patients underwent bone scan and 81 patients were identified with missed fractures by bone scan. The most frequent location for missed fractures was the rib area (55 cases, 41.98%), followed by the extremities (42 cases, 32.06%). The missed fractures that required surgery or splint were most common in extremities (11 cases). In univariate analysis, higher ISS scores and mechanism of injury were related with the probability that missed fractures would be found with a bone scan. The ISS score was statistically significant in multivariate analysis. Bone scan is an effective method of detecting missed fractures among patients with multiple severe traumas. Level IV, retrospective study. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

The effect of computer-mediated social support in online communities on patient empowerment and doctor-patient communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Hyun Jung; Lee, Byoungkwan

2012-01-01

In the context of diabetes, this study tested a mechanism through which Korean diabetes patients' exchange of computer-mediated social support (CMSS) in diabetes online communities influences their sense of empowerment and intention to actively communicate with the doctor. Analysis of data from 464 Korean diabetes patients indicates significant relationships among diabetes patients' online community activities, perceived CMSS, sense of empowerment, and their intention to actively communicate with the doctor. Diabetes patients who have engaged more in online community activities perceived greater social support from other members of the community. Perceived CMSS significantly predicted their intention to actively communicate with the doctor through sense of empowerment. Sense of empowerment was a valid underlying mechanism that explains how patients' perceived CMSS influences their intention to actively communicate with the doctor. The implications for health communication research and practice are discussed.

Medication adherence in patients with hypertension: Does satisfaction with doctor-patient relationship work?

Science.gov (United States)

Mahmoudian, Ahmad; Zamani, Ahmadreza; Tavakoli, Neda; Farajzadegan, Ziba; Fathollahi-Dehkordi, Fariba

2017-01-01

It is assumed that doctor-patient relationship plays an effective role in patients' satisfaction, medication adherence, and health outcomes since exploring different aspects of this relationship, such as addressing medication adherence, has rarely been investigated. Therefore, the main aim of the present study was to assess the impact of patients' satisfaction derived from communicating with doctors on medication adherence in hypertensive patients. This cross-sectional survey was conducted on three hundred patients with hypertension, using multistage sampling technique in health care centers in Isfahan, Iran. Data were collected by two questionnaires comprised (1) patients' satisfaction derived from the relationship with doctors and (2) medication adherence named "Morisky Medication Adherence Scale" with 8 items. Multivariate logistic regression model was applied to test the odds ratio (OR) of patients' satisfaction resulting from the relationship with physicians in numerous aspects in two groups: appropriate and inappropriate medication adherence. A lower level of satisfaction derived from building the relationship (confidence interval [CI] =0.95, 0.06-0.71 and OR = 0.20) and empathy subscales (CI = 0.95, 13-0.80 and OR = 0.33) was associated with nonadherence to treatment after controlling the physicians' gender and patients' age, gender, education, and duration of disease. Patients' satisfaction resulting from building the relationship and empathy with physicians appeared to be associated with medication adherence among hypertensive patients.

Intergroup communication between hospital doctors: implications for quality of patient care.

Science.gov (United States)

Hewett, David G; Watson, Bernadette M; Gallois, Cindy; Ward, Michael; Leggett, Barbara A

2009-12-01

Hospitals involve a complex socio-technical health system, where communication failures influence the quality of patient care. Research indicates the importance of social identity and intergroup relationships articulated through power, control, status and competition. This study focused on interspecialty communication among doctors for patients requiring the involvement of multiple specialist departments. The paper reports on an interview study in Australia, framed by social identity and communication accommodation theories of doctors' experiences of managing such patients, to explore the impact of communication. Interviews were undertaken with 45 doctors working in a large metropolitan hospital, and were analysed using Leximancer (text mining software) and interpretation of major themes. Findings indicated that intergroup conflict is a central influence on communication. Contested responsibilities emerged from a model of care driven by single-specialty ownership of the patient, with doctors allowed to evade responsibility for patients over whom they had no sense of ownership. Counter-accommodative communication, particularly involving interpersonal control, appeared as important for reinforcing social identity and winning conflicts. Strategies to resolve intergroup conflict must address structural issues generating an intergroup climate and evoke interpersonal salience to moderate their effect.

ICT and the future of health care: aspects of doctor-patient communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Haluza, Daniela; Jungwirth, David

2014-07-01

The current digital revolution is particularly relevant for interactions of healthcare providers with patients and the community as a whole. The growing public acceptance and distribution of new communication tools such as smart mobile phones provide the prerequisite for information and communication technology (ICT) -assisted healthcare applications. The present study aimed at identifying specifications and perceptions of different interest groups regarding future demands of ICT-supported doctor-patient communication in Austria. German-speaking Austrian healthcare experts (n = 73; 74 percent males; mean age, 43.9 years; SD 9.4) representing medical professionals, patient advocates, and administrative personnel participated in a 2-round online Delphi process. Participants evaluated scenario-based benefits and obstacles for possible prospect introduction as well as degree of innovation, desirability, and estimated implementation dates of two medical care-related future set ups. Panelists expected the future ICT-supported doctor-patient dialogue to especially improve the three factors doctors-patient relationship, patients' knowledge, and quality of social health care. However, lack of acceptance by doctors, data security, and monetary aspects were considered as the three most relevant barriers for ICT implementation. Furthermore, inter-group comparison regarding desirability of future scenarios showed that medical professionals tended to be more skeptical about health-related technological innovations (p ICT-supported collaboration and communication between doctors and patients.

Mediating Effects of Patients' Stigma and Self-Efficacy on Relationships Between Doctors' Empathy Abilities and Patients' Cellular Immunity in Male Breast Cancer Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Ningxi; Cao, Yingnan; Li, Xiaoyan; Li, Shiyue; Yan, Hong; Geng, Qingshan

2018-06-12

BACKGROUND Doctors' empathy is closely related to patients' health. This study aimed to examine whether patients' stigma and self-efficacy play a mediating role in the relationship between doctors' empathy abilities and patients' cellular immunity in male patients with breast cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS Doctors' empathy scores and patients' demographic data, disease condition, stigma, and self-efficacy were measured. Patient T cell subset was tested at admission and 3 months after the operation and was compared by paired t test. The multivariate linear regression model was applied to analyze the factors influencing the immune index. Pearson correlation analysis and structural equation modeling were applied to explore the relationships among patients' stigma, self-efficacy, and cellular immunity and doctors' empathy abilities. RESULTS At the 2 time points, only the change in NK subset was statistically significant, while the changes in percentage of CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, and B cells were not statistically significant. The doctors' empathy abilities were negatively correlated with patients' stigma and were positively related to patients' self-efficacy. Patients' stigma was negatively related to NK subset, while self-efficacy was positively associated with NK subset. Patients' stigma and self-efficacy played a mediating role in the relationship between doctors' empathy abilities and patients' NK subset, and stigma had a stronger effect than self-efficacy. CONCLUSIONS Doctors' empathy abilities affected breast cancer patients' NK subset through their stigma and self-efficacy. The mental health of male breast cancer patients need more attention and empathy education needs to be improved.

Applying modern error theory to the problem of missed injuries in trauma.

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, D L; Gouveia, J; Thomson, S R; Muckart, D J J

2008-06-01

Modern theory of human error has helped reduce the incidence of adverse events in commercial aviation. It remains unclear whether these lessons are applicable to adverse events in trauma surgery. Missed injuries in a large metropolitan surgical service were prospectively audited and analyzed using a modern error taxonomy to define its applicability to trauma. A prospective database of all patients who experienced a missed injury during a 6-month period in a busy surgical service was maintained from July 2006. A missed injury was defined as one that escaped detection from primary assessment to operative exploration. Each missed injury was recorded and categorized. The clinical significance of the error and the level of physician responsible was documented. Errors were divided into planning or execution errors, acts of omission or commission, or violations, slips, and lapses. A total of 1,024 trauma patients were treated by the surgical services over the 6-month period from July to December 2006 in Pietermaritzburg. Thirty-four patients (2.5%) with missed injuries were identified during this period. There were 29 men and 5 women with an average age of 29 years (range: 21-67 years). In 14 patients, errors were related to inadequate clinical assessment. In 11 patients errors involved the misinterpretation of, or failure to respond to radiological imaging. There were 9 cases in which an injury was missed during surgical exploration. Overall mortality was 27% (9 patients). In 5 cases death was directly attributable to the missed injury. The level of the physicians making the error was consultant surgeon (4 cases), resident in training (15 cases), career medical officer (2 cases), referring doctor (6 cases). Missed injuries are uncommon and are made by all grades of staff. They are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Understanding the pattern of these errors may help develop error-reduction strategies. Current taxonomies help in understanding the error

Physicians' professionalism at primary care facilities from patients' perspective: The importance of doctors' communication skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Sari, Merry Indah; Prabandari, Yayi Suryo; Claramita, Mora

2016-01-01

Professionalism is the core duty of a doctor to be responsible to the society. Doctors' professionalism depicts an internalization of values and mastery of professionals' standards as an important part in shaping the trust between doctors and patients. Professionalism consists of various attributes in which current literature focused more on the perspective of the health professionals. Doctors' professionalism may influence patients' satisfaction, and therefore, it is important to know from the patients' perspectives what was expected of medical doctors' professionalism. This study was conducted to determine the attributes of physician professionalism from the patient's perspective. This was a qualitative research using a phenomenology study design. In-depth interviews were conducted with 18 patients with hypertension and diabetes who had been treated for at least 1 year in primary care facilities in the city of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The results of the interview were transcribed, encoded, and then classified into categories. Communication skills were considered as the top priority of medical doctors' attributes of professionalism in the perspectives of the patients. This study revealed that communication skill is the most important aspects of professionalism which greatly affected in the process of health care provided by the primary care doctors. Doctor-patient communication skills should be intensively trained during both basic and postgraduate medical education.

Known and missing left ventricular ejection fraction and survival in patients with heart failure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poppe, Katrina K; Squire, Iain B; Whalley, Gillian A

2013-01-01

Treatment of patients with heart failure (HF) relies on measurement of LVEF. However, the extent to which EF is recorded varies markedly. We sought to characterize the patient group that is missing a measure of EF, and to explore the association between missing EF and outcome.......Treatment of patients with heart failure (HF) relies on measurement of LVEF. However, the extent to which EF is recorded varies markedly. We sought to characterize the patient group that is missing a measure of EF, and to explore the association between missing EF and outcome....

[Doctor-patient relationship in situations of economic precarity: the patient's point of view].

Science.gov (United States)

Marron-Delabre, Alice; Rivollier, Elisabeth; Bois, Christophe

2015-01-01

Disparity in healthcare is widening in France. From the doctors' perspectives, their relationship with patients in a precarious economic situation raises a number of specific difficulties. The objective of this qualitative study of people in a precarious economic position, was to identify the specific challenges and aspects that can facilitate patient-doctor relationships. This qualitative study was based on a series of individual, semi-structured interviews between GPs and patients over the age of 18 years with a regular GP, and who were financially vulnerable (recipients of state benefits), and/or covered by universal complementary health care insurance, and/or who frequently attended charitable organisations for free food and clothes. A total of 19 people were interviewed. The participants highlighted the expected human dimension: respect, charisma and open-mindedness. A high quality of receptiveness and communication also facilitated the relationship. On the other hand, lack of availability, an authoritative tone and intrusion hindered the relationship. The patients did not appear to have any additional demands related to their economic vulnerability. In conversation with their GPs, the patients did not define themselves by their unstable financial position. The patients' experience and expectations in relation to interactions with their doctors appeared to be similar to those of the general population.

Doctors Today

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Murphy, JFA

2012-03-01

Doctors’ relationship with patients and their role in society is changing. Until the 1960s doctors concentrated on the welfare of patients with less emphasis placed on patients’ rights1. Over recent decades there has been increasing empowerment of the individual across all facets of society including health care. Doctors continue to be perceived as having expertise and authority over medical science. Patients, however, now hold sway over questions of values or preferences. We all must be aware of this change in the doctor- patient interaction. We need to be more aware of the outcomes that patients view as important. The concept of shared decision-making with the patient is now widely appreciated. The process involves a change in mind set particularly for doctors who trained in an earlier era.

Medication adherence in patients with hypertension: Does satisfaction with doctor-patient relationship work?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Mahmoudian

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: It is assumed that doctor-patient relationship plays an effective role in patients' satisfaction, medication adherence, and health outcomes since exploring different aspects of this relationship, such as addressing medication adherence, has rarely been investigated. Therefore, the main aim of the present study was to assess the impact of patients' satisfaction derived from communicating with doctors on medication adherence in hypertensive patients. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted on three hundred patients with hypertension, using multistage sampling technique in health care centers in Isfahan, Iran. Data were collected by two questionnaires comprised (1 patients' satisfaction derived from the relationship with doctors and (2 medication adherence named “Morisky Medication Adherence Scale” with 8 items. Multivariate logistic regression model was applied to test the odds ratio (OR of patients' satisfaction resulting from the relationship with physicians in numerous aspects in two groups: appropriate and inappropriate medication adherence. Results: A lower level of satisfaction derived from building the relationship (confidence interval [CI] =0.95, 0.06–0.71 and OR = 0.20 and empathy subscales (CI = 0.95, 13–0.80 and OR = 0.33 was associated with nonadherence to treatment after controlling the physicians' gender and patients' age, gender, education, and duration of disease. Conclusion: Patients' satisfaction resulting from building the relationship and empathy with physicians appeared to be associated with medication adherence among hypertensive patients.

SEXUAL CONTACT IN THE DOCTOR-PATIENT-RELATIONSHIP IN THE NETHERLANDS

NARCIS (Netherlands)

WILBERS, D; VEENSTRA, G; VANDEWIEL, HBM; SCHULTZ, WCMW

1992-01-01

Objective - To obtain data on sexual contact between doctors and their patients. Design - Anonymous questionnaire with 17 items sent to all working gynaecologists (n=595) and all ear, nose, and throat specialists (n=380) in the Netherlands. Results - Response rate was 74%; a total 64 doctors gave a

No Third Parties. The Medical Profession Reclaims Authority in Doctor-Patient Relationships

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lars Thorup Larsen

2016-09-01

Full Text Available A key aspect of the classic doctor-patient relationship is the idea that doctors exert a professional authority through medical expertise while also taking care of the patient. Some professional organizations have held that “no third parties” should come between doctor and patient, be it governments or corporations. The sanctity of medical authority has also met resistance, and doctors are often said to face more demanding patients today with their own information about diagnoses. This article concerns how the medical profession reacts faced with challenged authority. Do they seek to reestablish a classic authority position or develop an alternative relationship with citizens? The analysis compares approximately 1.000 editorials in American, British and Danish medical journals from 1950 to the present. The analysis shows that all medical professions see their authority challenged by third parties, but some react defensively while others try to rethink the authority relation between professionals and citizens.

Predictors of missed appointments in patients referred for congenital or pediatric cardiac magnetic resonance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lu, Jimmy C.; Dorfman, Adam L. [C.S. Mott Children' s Hospital, Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, University of Michigan Health System, University of Michigan Congenital Heart Center, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); C.S. Mott Children' s Hospital, Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Health System, Section of Pediatric Radiology, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Lowery, Ray; Yu, Sunkyung [C.S. Mott Children' s Hospital, Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, University of Michigan Health System, University of Michigan Congenital Heart Center, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Ghadimi Mahani, Maryam [C.S. Mott Children' s Hospital, Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Health System, Section of Pediatric Radiology, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Agarwal, Prachi P. [University of Michigan Health System, Department of Radiology, Division of Cardiothoracic Radiology, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)

2017-07-15

Congenital cardiac magnetic resonance is a limited resource because of scanner and physician availability. Missed appointments decrease scheduling efficiency, have financial implications and represent missed care opportunities. To characterize the rate of missed appointments and identify modifiable predictors. This single-center retrospective study included all patients with outpatient congenital or pediatric cardiac MR appointments from Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 31, 2015. We identified missed appointments (no-shows or same-day cancellations) from the electronic medical record. We obtained demographic and clinical factors from the medical record and assessed socioeconomic factors by U.S. Census block data by patient ZIP code. Statistically significant variables (P<0.05) were included into a multivariable analysis. Of 795 outpatients (median age 18.5 years, interquartile range 13.4-27.1 years) referred for congenital cardiac MR, a total of 91 patients (11.4%) missed appointments; 28 (3.5%) missed multiple appointments. Reason for missed appointment could be identified in only 38 patients (42%), but of these, 28 (74%) were preventable or could have been identified prior to the appointment. In multivariable analysis, independent predictors of missed appointments were referral by a non-cardiologist (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 5.8, P=0.0002), referral for research (AOR 3.6, P=0.01), having public insurance (AOR 2.1, P=0.004), and having scheduled cardiac MR from November to April (AOR 1.8, P=0.01). Demographic factors can identify patients at higher risk for missing appointments. These data may inform initiatives to limit missed appointments, such as targeted education of referring providers and patients. Further data are needed to evaluate the efficacy of potential interventions. (orig.)

Significance of gender in the attitude towards doctor-patient communication in medical students and physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Löffler-Stastka, Henriette; Seitz, Tamara; Billeth, Sabrina; Pastner, Barbara; Preusche, Ingrid; Seidman, Charles

2016-09-01

Gender-specific differences in the attitudes towards doctor-patient communication among medical students and physicians were assessed. A total of 150 medical students and 51 physicians from different departments took part in the study. The association, attitude and experiences regarding doctor-patient communication were assessed with a series of tools and questionnaires. Female doctors and students tended to describe the doctor-patient communication with positive attributes, such as "helpful", "sentimental", "voluble", "sociable", "gentle", "yielding" and "peaceful". Male students and physicians, on the other hand, described doctor-patient communication as "overbearing", "robust" and "inhibited". The most frequent associations females had with the term doctor-patient communication were "empathy", "confidence", "openess", while the most frequent association of the male colleagues was "medical history". Female doctors reported speaking about the psychosocial situation of the patient significantly more often and believed in higher patient satisfaction by sharing more information. Furthermore, they reported having longer conversations with a more equal partnership than their male colleagues. Compared to male students, female students were willing to take part in training their communication skills more often and had more interest in research about doctor-patient communication. Male medical students reported self-doubt during conversations with female patients, while one third of the male physicians talked about "the power over the patient". This study indicates a gender-dependent communication style influenced by stereotypes. At the establishment of communication training these differences should be taken into account, especially to strengthen male communication skills and improve their attitudes.

[Patients, clients, doctors and providers: is it just a question of terminology?].

Science.gov (United States)

Ayuzo Del Valle, Cipatli

2016-01-01

With the modernization of healthcare and management of a Hospital as a bussiness, There is the risk of changing the words "patient" and "doctor" into "client" and "provider", risking the humanitarian care, thrustworthiness, and doctor-patient relationship. Using first and last names could be an option for communication.

Doctor-patient communication without family is most frequently practiced in patients with malignant tumors in home medical care settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Kimura, Takuma; Imanaga, Teruhiko; Matsuzaki, Makoto

2014-01-01

Promotion of home medical care is absolutely necessary in Japan where is a rapidly aging society. In home medical care settings, triadic communications among the doctor, patient and the family are common. And "communications just between the doctor and the patient without the family" (doctor-patient communication without family, "DPC without family") is considered important for the patient to frankly communicate with the doctor without consideration for the family. However, the circumstances associated with DPC without family are unclear. Therefore, to identify the factors of the occurrence of DPC without family, we conducted a cross-sectional mail-in survey targeting 271 families of Japanese patients who had previously received home medical care. Among 227 respondents (83.8%), we eventually analyzed data from 143, excluding families of patients with severe hearing or cognitive impairment and severe verbal communication dysfunction. DPC without family occurred in 26.6% (n = 38) of the families analyzed. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed using a model including Primary disease, Daily activity, Duration of home medical care, Interval between doctor visits, Duration of doctor's stay, Existence of another room, and Spouse as primary caregiver. As a result, DPC without family was significantly associated with malignant tumor as primary disease (OR, 3.165; 95% CI, 1.180-8.486; P = 0.022). In conclusion, the visiting doctors should bear in mind that the background factor of the occurrence of DPC without family is patient's malignant tumors.

Patients' perception of chemotherapy side effects: Expectations, doctor-patient communication and impact on quality of life - An Italian survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Lorusso, Domenica; Bria, Emilio; Costantini, Anna; Di Maio, Massimo; Rosti, Giovanni; Mancuso, Annamaria

2017-03-01

Chemotherapy side effects (CSE) have a strong impact on patients' quality of life (QOL). To assess patient perceptions of CSE, their impact on QOL and doctor-patient communication regarding these aspects, a survey was conducted among Italian cancer patients. Patients at least 18 years of age, who received chemotherapy, were administered a dedicated questionnaire to assess their point of view on five domains: expectations about CSE and impact on QOL; doctor-patient communication about CSE; treatments to reduce the impact of CSE; sexual life; family relationships/activities and employment. A total of 761 patients participated. CSE had a considerable impact on patient QOL. Nausea/vomiting was the most feared adverse effect before initiating chemotherapy and the one most commonly experienced during treatment. Patients generally reported good doctor-patient communication regarding information about CSE. In almost all cases, the oncologists prescribed an antiemetic treatment, but the incidence of nausea/vomiting was high. Cancer and CSE severely affected sexual life, daily activities and employment. CSE had a strong negative impact on QOL. Good doctor-patient communication is essential. Improving antiemetic strategies may improve QOL. Doctors' ability to inform patients about delicate issues, such as the impact of CSE on sexual life, needs to be improved. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Patient understanding of oral contraceptive pill instructions related to missed pills: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Zapata, Lauren B; Steenland, Maria W; Brahmi, Dalia; Marchbanks, Polly A; Curtis, Kathryn M

2013-05-01

Instructions on what to do after pills are missed are critical to reducing unintended pregnancies resulting from patient non-adherence to oral contraceptive (OC) regimens. Missed pill instructions have previously been criticized for being too complex, lacking a definition of what is meant by "missed pills," and for being confusing to women who may not know the estrogen content of their formulation. To help inform the development of missed pill guidance to be included in the forthcoming US Selected Practice Recommendations, the objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the evidence on patient understanding of missed pill instructions. We searched the PubMed database for peer-reviewed articles that examined patient understanding of OC pill instructions that were published in any language from inception of the database through March 2012. We included studies that examined women's knowledge and understanding of missed pill instructions after exposure to some written material (e.g., patient package insert, brochure), as well as studies that compared different types of missed pill instructions on women's comprehension. We used standard abstract forms and grading systems to summarize and assess the quality of the evidence. From 1620 articles, nine studies met our inclusion criteria. Evidence from one randomized controlled trial (RCT) and two descriptive studies found that more women knew what to do after missing 1 pill than after missing 2 or 3 pills (Level I, good, to Level II-3, poor), and two descriptive studies found that more women knew what to do after missing 2 pills than after missing 3 pills (Level II-3, fair). Data from two descriptive studies documented the difficulty women have understanding missed pill instructions contained in patient package inserts (Level II-3, poor), and evidence from two RCTs found that providing written brochures with information on missed pill instructions in addition to contraceptive counseling significantly improved

Socio-cultural difference in doctor-patient communication in the European countries.

OpenAIRE

Brink-Muinen, A. van den; Meeuwesen, L.

2003-01-01

Aims: In medical encounters, good doctor-patient communication is of utmost importance in the health care process. The influence of doctor, patients and organizational charactersitics has been showed in many studies. Scarce studies have indicated the importance of cultural characteristics on communication. Cultural differences find their expression along important dimensions (Hofstede 1991), as power distance and masculinity versus femininity. It was studied how theirs dimensions were reflect...

Trust in the doctor-patient relationship in the light of the latest research

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Pawlikowska-Łagód Katarzyna

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Trusting the medical staff, especially the doctor is a fundamental part of the success of the treatment process. Appropriate level of trust in a doctor-patient relationship affects the patient’s compliance with the physician’s recommendations and motivates patient to fight the disease. Over the last few years, numerous studies have been conducted on the level of trust in medical staff, especially doctors.

Effects of individual immigrant attitudes and host culture attitudes on doctor-immigrant patient relationships and communication in Canada

OpenAIRE

Whittal, Amanda; Rosenberg, Ellen

2015-01-01

Introduction In many countries doctors are seeing an increasing amount of immigrant patients. The communication and relationship between such groups often needs to be improved, with the crucial factor potentially being the basic attitudes (acculturation orientations) of the doctors and patients. This study therefore explores how acculturation orientations of Canadian doctors and immigrant patients impact the doctor-patient relationship. Methods N?=?10 participants (five doctors, five patients...

NOTES FOR THE PRIMARY CARE TEACHERS: TEACHING DOCTOR-PATIENT COMMUNICATION IN FAMILY MEDICINE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

AR Yong Rafidah

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Doctor-patient communication skills are important in family medicine and can be taught and learned. This paper summarisesthe salient contents and main methods of the teaching and learning of doctor-patient communication, especially thoseapplicable to the discipline.

Missed posterior dislocation of the hip in a head-injured patient with ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Head injury increases the risk of missed diagnosis by making patient-derived history impossible. The risk of missing a posterior dislocation of the hip in a head-injured patient is aggravated when an ipsilateral femoral shaft fracture co-exists. Adequate radiological evaluation of bone and joints is therefore of ...

Breaking bad news: doctors' skills in communicating with patients.

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Ferreira da Silveira, Francisco José; Botelho, Camila Carvalho; Valadão, Carolina Cirino

2017-01-01

Breaking bad news is one of doctors' duties and it requires them to have some skills, given that this situation is difficult and distressful for patients and their families. Moreover, it is also an uncomfortable condition for doctors. The aim of this study was to evaluate doctors' capacity to break bad news, ascertain which specialties are best prepared for doing this and assess the importance of including this topic within undergraduate courses. Observational cross-sectional quantitative study conducted at a university hospital in Belo Horizonte (MG), Brazil. This study used a questionnaire based on the SPIKES protocol, which was answered by 121 doctors at this university hospital. This questionnaire investigated their attitudes, posture, behavior and fears relating to breaking bad news. The majority of the doctors did not have problems regarding the concept of bad news. Nevertheless, their abilities diverged depending on the stage of the protocol and on their specialty and length of time since graduation. Generally, doctors who had graduated more than ten years before this survey felt more comfortable and confident, and thus transmitted the bad news in a better conducted manner. Much needs to be improved regarding this technique. Therefore, inclusion of this topic in undergraduate courses is necessary and proposals should be put forward and verified.

Cost incentives for doctors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schottmüller, Christoph

2013-01-01

If doctors take the costs of treatment into account when prescribing medication, their objectives differ from their patients' objectives because the patients are insured. This misalignment of interests hampers communication between patient and doctor. Giving cost incentives to doctors increases...... welfare if (i) the doctor's examination technology is sufficiently good or (ii) (marginal) costs of treatment are high enough. If the planner can costlessly choose the extent to which doctors take costs into account, he will opt for less than 100%. Optimal health care systems should implement different...... degrees of cost incentives depending on type of disease and/or doctor....

Refusal of Treatment by Mentally Competent Patient: The Choice of Doctor-Patient Relationship Models

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Andrei M. Beliaev

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: In modern medicine professional relationship between the clinician and the patient is patient-centered. Patients become actively involved in the treatment decision making process and are encouraged to express their health-related preferences. Some patients may, however, refuse a favorable risk/benefit ratio treatment. This manuscript presents three cases of refusal of treatment by mentally competent surgical patients and discusses differences in their management. Conclusion: To achieve the best medical outcome for patients who possess the Actual Understanding test of mental competence clinicians use the deliberate model of medical professional relationship. For patients demonstrating the Understanding test of mental competence and wishing to utilize their health-related preferences physicians are obliged to deploy the interpretive model of doctor-patient relationship. In mentally competent patients with an illness-induced acute psychological regression the interpretive model of doctor-patient relationship as an initial strategy and cognitive behavior therapy can be useful in modifying treatment rejecting behavior and improving medical outcome.

Detection of patient psychological distress and longitudinal patient–doctor relationships: a cross-sectional study

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Ridd, Matthew; Lewis, Glyn; Peters, Tim J; Salisbury, Chris

2012-01-01

Background Psychological distress in patients who attend their GP is thought to be under-recognised. However, it is likely that both disclosure and detection are influenced by how well the patient and doctor know each another. Aim To examine whether patient–doctor depth of relationship is associated with identification of psychological distress. Design and setting Cross-sectional study in general practices in and around Bristol, England. Method Patients (aged ≥16 years) were asked to complete a questionnaire and consent to their electronic medical records being reviewed. Study GPs independently assessed patient psychological distress. Multivariable logistic regression was used to look for associations between patient–doctor depth of relationship and GP detection of patient psychological distress (defined according to the 12-item General Health Questionnaire, GHQ-12). Results There were 643 eligible appointments with 31 GPs. In total, 541 (84.1%) patients returned questionnaires and 490 (76.2%) consented to their records being reviewed. Patient–doctor depth of relationship was not associated with GP detection of mild to severe patient psychological distress (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.94, 95% CI = 0.87 to 1.02) but, in secondary analyses, it was associated with the identification of moderate to severe distress (adjusted OR 1.13, 95% CI = 1.02 to 1.26). GPs reported more patient psychological distress in patients who reported a greater depth of relationship but this did not relate to patients' GHQ-12 scores. Conclusion Evidence to support an association between patient–doctor depth of relationship and improved GP detection of patients with psychological distress was weak, except in those patients who GPs thought were more distressed. GPs may overestimate emotional distress in patients who report deeper patient–doctor relationships. PMID:22429433

Abortion Bans, Doctors, and the Criminalization of Patients.

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Oberman, Michelle

2018-03-01

January 2018, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology issued a position statement opposing the punishment of women for self-induced abortion. To those unfamiliar with emerging trends in abortion in the United States and worldwide, the need for the declaration might not be apparent. Several studies suggest that self-induced abortion is on the rise in the United States. Simultaneously, prosecutions of pregnant women for behavior thought to harm the fetus are increasing. The ACOG statement responds to both trends by urging doctors to honor the integrity and confidentiality inherent in the doctor-patient relationship. Seen in the context of the larger battle over legal abortion, the statement has far broader implications. By acknowledging the role doctors play in enforcing pregnancy-related crimes, the ACOG position statement wisely anticipates the ways in which doctors will be implicated should access to legal abortion be further restricted. To understand the need for the ACOG directive, you must first understand that the story of what will happen if abortion becomes a crime in the United States is not to be found in history books; it is staring at us across our southern border. © 2018 The Hastings Center.

Factors influencing intercultural doctor-patient communication: a realist review.

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Paternotte, Emma; van Dulmen, Sandra; van der Lee, Nadine; Scherpbier, Albert J J A; Scheele, Fedde

2015-04-01

Due to migration, doctors see patients from different ethnic backgrounds. This causes challenges for the communication. To develop training programs for doctors in intercultural communication (ICC), it is important to know which barriers and facilitators determine the quality of ICC. This study aimed to provide an overview of the literature and to explore how ICC works. A systematic search was performed to find literature published before October 2012. The search terms used were cultural, communication, healthcare worker. A realist synthesis allowed us to use an explanatory focus to understand the interplay of communication. In total, 145 articles met the inclusion criteria. We found ICC challenges due to language, cultural and social differences, and doctors' assumptions. The mechanisms were described as factors influencing the process of ICC and divided into objectives, core skills and specific skills. The results were synthesized in a framework for the development of training. The quality of ICC is influenced by the context and by the mechanisms. These mechanisms translate into practical points for training, which seem to have similarities with patient-centered communication. Training for improving ICC can be developed as an extension of the existing training for patient-centered communication. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors in the doctor-patient relationship that accentuate physicians' hurt feelings when patients terminate the relationship with them.

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Hareli, Shlomo; Karnieli-Miller, Orit; Hermoni, Doron; Eidelman, Shmuel

2007-07-01

The present study explores the emotional effect of the injury experienced by physician's, as a consequence of a patient's termination of their relationship. A vignette study using different scenarios describing a patient who switched to another doctor was distributed to 119 family physicians. A three-way ANCOVA analysis was employed. Additionally, physicians' answered an open question asking of situations that elicited negative emotions. The quantitative results indicated that termination of the relationship by a "high status" patient and/or after a long duration is more emotionally hurtful than termination by a "lower status" patient after a brief relationship. The results of the open question provided an additional insight into the emotional impact of the doctor's hurt feelings on the doctor-patient relationship. The severity and consequences of the emotional injury experienced by physicians when patients decide to transfer to another physician are influenced by factors related to the patient, physician and the relationship between them. We discuss the implications of our results on the understanding of the emotional injury and consequent impaired function and possible "burn-out" in physicians and explore the possibility of educating doctors to heightened awareness and consequently enhanced ability to cope with such situations.

Doctor-patient communication in the e-health era.

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Weiner, Jonathan P

2012-08-28

The digital revolution will have a profound impact on how physicians and health care delivery organizations interact with patients and the community at-large. Over the coming decades, face-to-face patient/doctor contacts will become less common and exchanges between consumers and providers will increasingly be mediated by electronic devices.In highly developed health care systems like those in Israel, the United States, and Europe, most aspects of the health care and consumer health experience are becoming supported by a wide array of technology such as electronic and personal health records (EHRs and PHRs), biometric & telemedicine devices, and consumer-focused wireless and wired Internet applications.In an article in this issue, Peleg and Nazarenko report on a survey they fielded within Israel's largest integrated delivery system regarding patient views on the use of electronic communication with their doctors via direct-access mobile phones and e-mail. A previous complementary paper describes the parallel perspectives of the physician staff at the same organization. These two surveys offer useful insights to clinicians, managers, researchers, and policymakers on how best to integrate e-mail and direct-to-doctor mobile phones into their practice settings. These papers, along with several other recent Israeli studies on e-health, also provide an opportunity to step back and take stock of the dramatic impact that information & communication technology (ICT) and health information technology (HIT) will have on clinician/patient communication moving forward.The main goals of this commentary are to describe the scope of this issue and to offer a framework for understanding the potential impact that e-health tools will have on provider/patient communication. It will be essential that clinicians, managers, policymakers, and researchers gain an increased understanding of this trend so that health care systems around the globe can adapt, adopt, and embrace these rapidly

Doctor-patient communication in the e-health era

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weiner Jonathan P

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract The digital revolution will have a profound impact on how physicians and health care delivery organizations interact with patients and the community at-large. Over the coming decades, face-to-face patient/doctor contacts will become less common and exchanges between consumers and providers will increasingly be mediated by electronic devices. In highly developed health care systems like those in Israel, the United States, and Europe, most aspects of the health care and consumer health experience are becoming supported by a wide array of technology such as electronic and personal health records (EHRs and PHRs, biometric & telemedicine devices, and consumer-focused wireless and wired Internet applications. In an article in this issue, Peleg and Nazarenko report on a survey they fielded within Israel's largest integrated delivery system regarding patient views on the use of electronic communication with their doctors via direct-access mobile phones and e-mail. A previous complementary paper describes the parallel perspectives of the physician staff at the same organization. These two surveys offer useful insights to clinicians, managers, researchers, and policymakers on how best to integrate e-mail and direct-to-doctor mobile phones into their practice settings. These papers, along with several other recent Israeli studies on e-health, also provide an opportunity to step back and take stock of the dramatic impact that information & communication technology (ICT and health information technology (HIT will have on clinician/patient communication moving forward. The main goals of this commentary are to describe the scope of this issue and to offer a framework for understanding the potential impact that e-health tools will have on provider/patient communication. It will be essential that clinicians, managers, policymakers, and researchers gain an increased understanding of this trend so that health care systems around the globe can adapt, adopt

Effects of exam room EHR use on doctor-patient communication: a systematic literature review.

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Kazmi, Zainab

2013-01-01

High levels of funding have been invested in health information technologies, especially electronic health records (EHRs), in an effect to coordinate and organize patient health data. However, the effect of EHRs in the exam room on doctor-patient communication has not been sufficiently explored. Objective The purpose of this systematic review was to determine how physician use of EHRs in medical consultations affects doctor-patient communication, both in terms of patient perceptions and actual physician behaviours. The reviewer conducted a comprehensive online database search in March 2013 of EMBASE, MEDLINE, and SCOPUS, using a combination of synonyms of the terms "patient", "doctor", "communication", and "EHR" or "computing". For inclusion in this review, articles had to be published in English, take place in an outpatient setting and demonstrate an empirical investigation into whether EHR affects doctor-patient communication. The reviewer then analysed 13 articles that met the inclusion criteria. Studies showed EHR use encouraged biomedical questioning of the patient, and encouraged patient-led questioning and doctor-led information provision. EHR-related behaviours such as keyboarding and screen gaze impaired relationships with patients, by reducing eye contact, rapport, and provision of emotional support. EHRs negatively affected physician-led patient-centred communication. Computer use may have amplified existing physician behaviours regarding medical record use. We noted both positive and negative effects of EHR use. This review highlights the need for increased EHR-specific communication training to mitigate adverse effects and for continued acknowledgement of patient perspectives.

Online access to doctors' notes: patient concerns about privacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Vodicka, Elisabeth; Mejilla, Roanne; Leveille, Suzanne G; Ralston, James D; Darer, Jonathan D; Delbanco, Tom; Walker, Jan; Elmore, Joann G

2013-09-26

Offering patients online access to medical records, including doctors' visit notes, holds considerable potential to improve care. However, patients may worry about loss of privacy when accessing personal health information through Internet-based patient portals. The OpenNotes study provided patients at three US health care institutions with online access to their primary care doctors' notes and then collected survey data about their experiences, including their concerns about privacy before and after participation in the intervention. To identify patients' attitudes toward privacy when given electronic access to their medical records, including visit notes. The design used a nested cohort study of patients surveyed at baseline and after a 1-year period during which they were invited to read their visit notes through secure patient portals. Participants consisted of 3874 primary care patients from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston, MA), Geisinger Health System (Danville, PA), and Harborview Medical Center (Seattle, WA) who completed surveys before and after the OpenNotes intervention. The measures were patient-reported levels of concern regarding privacy associated with online access to visit notes. 32.91% of patients (1275/3874 respondents) reported concerns about privacy at baseline versus 36.63% (1419/3874 respondents) post-intervention. Baseline concerns were associated with non-white race/ethnicity and lower confidence in communicating with doctors, but were not associated with choosing to read notes or desire for continued online access post-intervention (nearly all patients with notes available chose to read them and wanted continued access). While the level of concern among most participants did not change during the intervention, 15.54% (602/3874 respondents, excluding participants who responded "don't know") reported more concern post-intervention, and 12.73% (493/3874 respondents, excluding participants who responded "don't know") reported less

Patient perspectives on online health information and communication with doctors: a qualitative study of patients 50 years old and over.

Science.gov (United States)

Silver, Michelle Pannor

2015-01-13

As health care systems around the world shift toward models that emphasize self-care management, there is increasing pressure for patients to obtain health information online. It is critical that patients are able to identify potential problems with using the Internet to diagnose and treat a health issue and that they feel comfortable communicating with their doctor about the health information they acquire from the Internet. Our aim was to examine patient-identified (1) problems with using the Internet to identify and treat a health issue, (2) barriers to communication with a doctor about online health information seeking, and (3) facilitators of communication with a doctor about patient searches for health information on the Internet. For this qualitative exploratory study, semistructured interviews were conducted with a sample of 56 adults age 50 years old and over. General concerns regarding use of the Internet to diagnose and treat a health issue were examined separately for participants based on whether they had ever discussed health information obtained through the Internet with a doctor. Discussions about barriers to and facilitators of communication about patient searches for health information on the Internet with a doctor were analyzed using thematic analysis. Six higher-level general concerns emerged: (1) limitations in own ability, (2) credibility/limitations of online information, (3) anxiety, (4) time consumption, (5) conflict, and (6) non-physical harm. The most prevalent concern raised by participants who communicated with a doctor about their online health information seeking related to the credibility or limitations in online information. Participants who had never communicated with a doctor about their online health information seeking most commonly reported concerns about non-physical harm. Four barriers to communication emerged: (1) concerns about embarrassment, (2) concerns that the doctor doesn't want to hear about it, (3) belief that there

Doctor-Patient Communication in a Southeast Asian Setting: The Conflict between Ideal and Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Claramita, Mora; Utarini, Adi; Soebono, Hardyanto; Van Dalen, Jan; Van der Vleuten, Cees

2011-01-01

Doctor-patient communication has been extensively studied in non-Western contexts and in relation to patients' cultural and education backgrounds. This study explores the perceived ideal communication style for doctor-patient consultations and the reality of actual practice in a Southeast Asian context. We conducted the study in a teaching…

Practices and attitudes of doctors and patients to downward referral in Shanghai, China.

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Yu, Wenya; Li, Meina; Nong, Xin; Ding, Tao; Ye, Feng; Liu, Jiazhen; Dai, Zhixing; Zhang, Lulu

2017-04-03

In China, the rate of downward referral is relatively low, as most people are unwilling to be referred from hospitals to community health systems (CHSs). The aim of this study was to explore the effect of doctors' and patients' practices and attitudes on their willingness for downward referral and the relationship between downward referral and sociodemographic characteristics. Doctors and patients of 13 tertiary hospitals in Shanghai were stratified through random sampling. The questionnaire surveyed their sociodemographic characteristics, attitudes towards CHSs and hospitals, understanding of downward referral, recognition of the community first treatment system, and downward referral practices and willingness. Descriptive statistics, χ 2 test and stepwise logistic regression analysis were employed for statistical analysis. Only 20.8% (161/773) of doctors were willing to accept downward referrals, although this proportion was higher among patients (37.6%, 326/866). Doctors' willingness was influenced by education, understanding of downward referral, and perception of health resources in hospitals. Patients' willingness was influenced by marital status, economic factors and recognition of the community first treatment system. Well-educated doctors who do not consider downward referral would increase their workloads and those with a more comprehensive understanding of hospitals and downward referral process were more likely to make a downward referral decision. Single-injury patients fully recognising the community first treatment system were more willing to accept downward referral. Patients' willingness was significantly increased if downward referral was cost-saving. A better medical insurance system was another key factor for patients to accept downward referral decisions, especially for the floating population. To increase the rate of downward referral, the Chinese government should optimise the current referral system and conduct universal publicity for

Towards a Fourth Cosmology of Doctor-Patient Relationship: A Reflection on the Virtual Patient Community PatientsLikeMe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Konstantinos Bletsos

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is the study of an online patient community (Patientslikeme and, specifically, of the impact of virtuality in the shaping of the patient-doctor relationship. Drawing from Kozinets’s research paradigm, known as ethnography of the Internet (Netnography, we investigate the patients’ attitudes toward the medical profession. Examining relevant data from the ALS forum, we set up three main axes of analysis: (a the energetic versus passive stance towards doctors, (b the evidence-based scientific knowledge versus alternative forms of knowledge, and (c the positive versus negative attitude towards doctors and medical practices. The underlying theoretical hypothesis, i.e. whether the virtual community empowers patients over against the authority of the medical profession, is verified. Other interesting findings involve the value of evidence-based scientific knowledge, the intermediary role of the online community in building the patient-physician relationship, and the development of an alternative discourse towards the dominant medical discourse. All the above suggest that we have entered an era where the control of the patient is being transferred to another (digital dimension, in which virtual communities play a crucial role.

Effects of individual immigrant attitudes and host culture attitudes on doctor-immigrant patient relationships and communication in Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Whittal, Amanda; Rosenberg, Ellen

2015-10-29

In many countries doctors are seeing an increasing amount of immigrant patients. The communication and relationship between such groups often needs to be improved, with the crucial factor potentially being the basic attitudes (acculturation orientations) of the doctors and patients. This study therefore explores how acculturation orientations of Canadian doctors and immigrant patients impact the doctor-patient relationship. N = 10 participants (five doctors, five patients) participated in acculturation orientation surveys, video recordings of a regular clinic visit, and semi structured interviews with each person. Acculturation orientations were calculated using the Euclidean distance method, video recordings were analyzed according to the Verona Coding System, and thematic analysis was used to analyze the interviews. Interviews were used to explain and interpret the behaviours observed in the video recordings. The combined acculturation orientations of each the doctor and immigrant patient played a role in the doctor-patient relationship, although different combinations than expected produced working relationships. Video recordings and interviews revealed that these particular immigrant patients were open to adapting to their new society, and that the doctors were generally accepting of the immigrants' previous culture. This produced a common level of understanding from which the relationship could work effectively. A good relationship and level of communication between doctors and immigrant patients may have its foundation in acculturation orientations, which may affect the quality of care, health behaviours and quality of life of the immigrant. The implications of these findings are more significant when considering effective interventions to improve the quality of doctor-patient relationships, which should have a solid foundational framework. Our research suggests that interventions based on understanding the influence of acculturation orientations could

[The doctor-patient relationship against the backdrop of patient-centered medicine. The conclusions of dialogical ethics].

Science.gov (United States)

Kreß, H

2012-09-01

"Health" and "illness" are multilayered terms. The understanding of human health depends, apart from scientific aspects, on people's individual perceptions as well as on aspects of culture and world view. The ideal of patient-centered medicine requires that a physician does not merely have to establish an objectifiable diagnosis. Rather, a physician should also respect the patients' right to self-determination, their personal values, and their subjective view of health and illness. The philosophy of dialogue, which developed in the twentieth century, offers a conceptual background for this ideal. On an empirical basis, the successful communication between doctor and patient can be interpreted as a useful placebo phenomenon. Alternative medicine puts great emphasis on the doctor's attentive care. This also explains why the alternative branch of medicine has appealed to many patients. Therefore, science-oriented medicine should review methods in which the doctor's empathy and dialogue ability are crucial to treatment success. It is part of the physician's responsibility to appreciate the personal perspectives of patients, to respect them and, if necessary, to engage with them critically.

An Australian government dental scheme: Doctor-dentist-patient tensions in the triangle.

Science.gov (United States)

Weerakoon, Arosha; Fitzgerald, Lisa; Porter, Suzette

2014-11-30

Autonomy of participants is challenged when legislation to provide a public health service is weakly designed and implemented. Australia's Chronic Disease Dental Scheme was instigated to provide a government subsidy for private dental treatment for people suffering chronic illness impacting their oral health or vice versa. They were allocated AUD$4250 towards comprehensive treatment over 2 years with their eligibility determined by their general medical doctor. A qualitative research study was conducted to explore the experiences from the perspectives of the patient, medical and dental practitioner. One of the research outcomes identified a frequently reported level of discomfort in the patient/doctor/dentist triangle. Doctors and dentists reported feeling forced by patients into positions that compromised their autonomy in obeying the intent (if not the law) of the scheme. Additionally, dentists felt under pressure from doctors and patients to provide subsidized treatment to those eligible. In turn, the patients reported difficulties in gaining access to the scheme and in some cases, experiencing full or partially unmet oral health needs. REASON FOR CONFLICT: Poor inter-professional communication and lack of understanding about profession-unique patient-driven pressures, ultimately contributed to dissonance. Ill-defined eligibility guidelines rendered the doctor's ability to gate-keep challenging. OUTCOME OF CONFLICT: Inefficient gate-keeping led to exponential increase in referrals, resulting in unprecedented cost blow-outs. Ensuing government-led audits caused political tensions and contributed to the media-induced vilification of dentists. In December 2013, government financing of dental treatment through Chronic Disease Dental Scheme was discontinued, leaving many Australians without a viable alternative. There is a need for qualitative research methods to help identify social issues that affect public health policy process. In order to succeed, new health

Patient Perspectives on Online Health Information and Communication With Doctors: A Qualitative Study of Patients 50 Years Old and Over

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

Background As health care systems around the world shift toward models that emphasize self-care management, there is increasing pressure for patients to obtain health information online. It is critical that patients are able to identify potential problems with using the Internet to diagnose and treat a health issue and that they feel comfortable communicating with their doctor about the health information they acquire from the Internet. Objective Our aim was to examine patient-identified (1) problems with using the Internet to identify and treat a health issue, (2) barriers to communication with a doctor about online health information seeking, and (3) facilitators of communication with a doctor about patient searches for health information on the Internet. Methods For this qualitative exploratory study, semistructured interviews were conducted with a sample of 56 adults age 50 years old and over. General concerns regarding use of the Internet to diagnose and treat a health issue were examined separately for participants based on whether they had ever discussed health information obtained through the Internet with a doctor. Discussions about barriers to and facilitators of communication about patient searches for health information on the Internet with a doctor were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results Six higher-level general concerns emerged: (1) limitations in own ability, (2) credibility/limitations of online information, (3) anxiety, (4) time consumption, (5) conflict, and (6) non-physical harm. The most prevalent concern raised by participants who communicated with a doctor about their online health information seeking related to the credibility or limitations in online information. Participants who had never communicated with a doctor about their online health information seeking most commonly reported concerns about non-physical harm. Four barriers to communication emerged: (1) concerns about embarrassment, (2) concerns that the doctor doesn’t want

The interpretability of doctor identification badges in UK hospitals: a survey of nurses and patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Hickerton, Bethan C; Fitzgerald, Daniel John; Perry, Elizabeth; De Bolla, Alan R

2014-07-01

Hospital badges have multiple important purposes, but their essential role remains the clear identification of the bearer, including their professional status. The modernisation of medical careers in the National Health Service has changed terminology dramatically, resulting in a plethora of new job titles emerging among both doctors and nurses. To determine whether the new or old terminology allowed clearer identification of medical doctors by patients and nurses. We replicated 11 identification badges used in the Royal Cornwall Hospital and Wrexham Maelor Hospital, both current and before the introduction of new medical training terminology. Data were collected from 114 patients and 67 nurses, by asking them to (1) identify which name badges represented doctors and (2) rank them in order of seniority. Only 11% of patients and 60% of nurses identified a 'Foundation Year 1 Trainee' as a qualified medical doctor. Indeed, only 'General Practice Vocational Trainee' and 'Consultant' were both readily identifiable as qualified doctors to both patients and nurses. Ranking was also a problem, with only 19% of patients and 45% of nurses able to correctly grade medical doctors using the current terminology. The old terminology allowed more accurate identification by nurses, with over 80% successfully ranking and marking the title appropriately. Current terminology is a source of confusion to both patients and members of the immediate medical care team, with nurses unable to correctly identify medical doctors. Our study indicates that a review of terminology is necessary to ensure patients, and staff, are able to communicate effectively. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Facebook activity of residents and fellows and its impact on the doctor-patient relationship.

Science.gov (United States)

Moubarak, Ghassan; Guiot, Aurélie; Benhamou, Ygal; Benhamou, Alexandra; Hariri, Sarah

2011-02-01

Facebook is an increasingly popular online social networking site. The purpose of this study was to describe the Facebook activity of residents and fellows and their opinions regarding the impact of Facebook on the doctor-patient relationship. An anonymous questionnaire was emailed to 405 residents and fellows at the Rouen University Hospital, France, in October 2009. Of the 202 participants who returned the questionnaire (50%), 147 (73%) had a Facebook profile. Among responders, 138 (99%) displayed their real name on their profile, 136 (97%) their birthdates, 128 (91%) a personal photograph, 83 (59%) their current university and 76 (55%) their current position. Default privacy settings were changed by 61% of users, more frequently if they were registered for >1 year (p=0.02). If a patient requested them as a 'friend', 152 (85%) participants would automatically decline the request, 26 (15%) would decide on an individual basis and none would automatically accept the request. Eighty-eight participants (48%) believed that the doctor-patient relationship would be altered if patients discovered that their doctor had a Facebook account, but 139 (76%) considered that it would change only if the patient had open access to their doctor's profile, independent of its content. Residents and fellows frequently use Facebook and display personal information on their profiles. Insufficient privacy protection might have an impact the doctor-patient relationship.

Do doctors attending sexualoffence victims have to notify sexualoffence suspects that their patients who were forced to have unprotected sexual intercourse are HIVpositive What should doctors do

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D J McQuoid-Mason

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The question has been asked as to whether doctors attending sexual-offence victims have to notify sexual-offence suspects that their patients who were forced to have unprotected sexual intercourse are HIV-positive. It is submitted that the common law requires doctors to warn endangered third parties where such persons may suffer injury as a result of interactions with their patients, and that this applies to patients who have tested positive for HIV. The ethical rules of the Health Professions Council of South Africa also require doctors to breach the confidentiality rule against the consent of their patients who have tested HIV-positive, where the sexual partner of a patient is known, and after counselling such patients still refuse to allow disclosure – provided there is no risk of consequential harm to such patients. The dilemma of doctors treating HIV-positive patients is sometimes resolved where, in terms of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters Amendment Act No. 32 of 2007, a court order for the compulsory testing of the suspect has been obtained and the suspect knows his or her HIV status. Recommendations are made for what doctors should do in such cases.

Junior doctors' experiences of managing patients with medically unexplained symptoms: a qualitative study.

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Yon, Katherine; Nettleton, Sarah; Walters, Kate; Lamahewa, Kethakie; Buszewicz, Marta

2015-12-01

To explore junior doctors' knowledge about and experiences of managing patients with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) and to seek their recommendations for improved future training on this important topic about which they currently receive little education. Qualitative study using in-depth interviews analysed using the framework method. Participants were recruited from three North Thames London hospitals within the UK. Twenty-two junior doctors undertaking the UK foundation two-year training programme (FY1/FY2). The junior doctors interviewed identified a significant gap in their training on the topic of MUS, particularly in relation to their awareness of the topic, the appropriate level of investigations, possible psychological comorbidities, the formulation of suitable explanations for patients' symptoms and longer term management strategies. Many junior doctors expressed feelings of anxiety, frustration and a self-perceived lack of competency in this area, and spoke of over-investigating patients or avoiding patient contact altogether due to the challenging nature of MUS and a difficulty in managing the accompanying uncertainty. They also identified the negative attitudes of some senior clinicians and potential role models towards patients with MUS as a factor contributing to their own attitudes and management choices. Most reported a need for more training during the foundation years, and recommended interactive case-based group discussions with a focus on providing meaningful explanations to patients for their symptoms. There is an urgent need to improve postgraduate training about the topics of MUS and avoiding over-investigation, as current training does not equip junior doctors with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively and confidently manage patients in these areas. Training needs to focus on practical skill development to increase clinical knowledge in areas such as delivering suitable explanations, and to incorporate individual management

Impact of Electronic Medical Record Use on the Patient-Doctor Relationship and Communication: A Systematic Review.

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Alkureishi, Maria Alcocer; Lee, Wei Wei; Lyons, Maureen; Press, Valerie G; Imam, Sara; Nkansah-Amankra, Akua; Werner, Deb; Arora, Vineet M

2016-05-01

While Electronic Medical Record (EMR) use has increased dramatically, the EMR's impact on the patient-doctor relationship remains unclear. This systematic literature review sought to understand the impact of EMR use on patient-doctor relationships and communication. Parallel searches in Ovid MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, reference review of prior systematic reviews, meeting abstract reviews, and expert reviews from August 2013 to March 2015 were conducted. Medical Subject Heading terms related to EMR use were combined with keyword terms identifying face-to-face patient-doctor communication. English language observational or interventional studies (1995-2015) were included. Studies examining physician attitudes only were excluded. Structured data extraction compared study population, design, data collection method, and outcomes. Fifty-three of 7445 studies reviewed met inclusion criteria. Included studies used behavioral analysis (28) to objectively measure communication behaviors using video or direct observation and pre-post or cross-sectional surveys to examine patient perceptions (25). Objective studies reported EMR communication behaviors that were both potentially negative (i.e., interrupted speech, low rates of screen sharing) and positive (i.e., facilitating questions). Studies examining overall patient perceptions of satisfaction, communication or the patient-doctor relationship (n = 22) reported no change with EMR use (16); a positive impact (5) or showed mixed results (1). Study quality was not assessable. Small sample sizes limited generalizability. Publication bias may limit findings. Despite objective evidence that EMR use may negatively impact patient-doctor communication, studies examining patient perceptions found no change in patient satisfaction or patient-doctor communication. Therefore, our findings should encourage providers to adopt the EMR as a communication tool. Future research is needed to better understand how

How doctors communicate the initial diagnosis of cancer matters: cancer disclosure and its relationship with Patients' hope and trust.

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Cao, Weidan; Qi, Xiaona; Yao, Ting; Han, Xuanye; Feng, Xujing

2017-05-01

The study is to examine the relationships between perceived initial cancer disclosure communication with doctors, levels of hope, and levels of trust in doctors among cancer patients in China. A total number of 192 cancer inpatients in a cancer hospital in China were surveyed. Perceived disclosure strategies, levels of hope, levels of trust in their doctors, as well as the demographic information were obtained from the participants. In addition to age, patients who had higher levels of perceived emotional support from doctors, or higher levels of perceived personalized disclosure from doctors, or higher levels of perceived discussion of multiple treatment plans with doctors were more likely to have higher levels of trust in doctors. In addition to perceived health status, perceived emotional support from doctors significantly predicted participants' levels of hope. That is, patients who had higher higher levels of perceived doctors' emotional support were more likely to have higher levels of hope. Key disclosure person was a marginally significant variable, that is, patients who were mainly disclosed by family members might have higher levels of hope compared with patients who were mainly disclosed by doctors. When communicating with a cancer patient, doctors might not ignore the importance of emotional support during cancer diagnosis communication. Doctors might want to involve family and collaborate with family to find out ways of personalized disclosure. During the communication process, doctors could provide their patients with multiple treatment options and discuss the benefits and side effects of each treatment. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

How physician electronic health record screen sharing affects patient and doctor non-verbal communication in primary care.

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Asan, Onur; Young, Henry N; Chewning, Betty; Montague, Enid

2015-03-01

Use of electronic health records (EHRs) in primary-care exam rooms changes the dynamics of patient-physician interaction. This study examines and compares doctor-patient non-verbal communication (eye-gaze patterns) during primary care encounters for three different screen/information sharing groups: (1) active information sharing, (2) passive information sharing, and (3) technology withdrawal. Researchers video recorded 100 primary-care visits and coded the direction and duration of doctor and patient gaze. Descriptive statistics compared the length of gaze patterns as a percentage of visit length. Lag sequential analysis determined whether physician eye-gaze influenced patient eye gaze, and vice versa, and examined variations across groups. Significant differences were found in duration of gaze across groups. Lag sequential analysis found significant associations between several gaze patterns. Some, such as DGP-PGD ("doctor gaze patient" followed by "patient gaze doctor") were significant for all groups. Others, such DGT-PGU ("doctor gaze technology" followed by "patient gaze unknown") were unique to one group. Some technology use styles (active information sharing) seem to create more patient engagement, while others (passive information sharing) lead to patient disengagement. Doctors can engage patients in communication by using EHRs in the visits. EHR training and design should facilitate this. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Qualitative and Quantitative Analyses on "Greetings" Exchanged by Japanese Doctors and Patients in Metical Interviews

OpenAIRE

植田, 栄子

2007-01-01

The study aims to analyze the interactional verbal and non-verbal behaviors between doctors and patients in medical interviews, focusing on the exchange of "greetings" at the opening of each interview. The conversational data of medical interviews were recorded in Tokyo and Osaka, consisting of 91 interviews by male doctors and 3 interviews by female doctors. There were 36 male patients (14 in Tokyo and 22 in Osaka) and 58 female patients (31 in Tokyo and 27 in Osaka). The average age of the ...

Ethical theory, ethnography, and differences between doctors and nurses in approaches to patient care.

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, D W

1996-01-01

OBJECTIVES: To study empirically whether ethical theory (from the mainstream principles-based, virtue-based, and feminist schools) usefully describes the approaches doctors and nurses take in everyday patient care. DESIGN: Ethnographic methods: participant observation and interviews, the transcripts of which were analysed to identify themes in ethical approaches. SETTING: A British old-age psychiatry ward. PARTICIPANTS: The more than 20 doctors and nurses on the ward. RESULTS: Doctors and nurses on the ward differed in their conceptions of the principles of beneficence and respect for patient autonomy. Nurses shared with doctors a commitment to liberal and utilitarian conceptions of these principles, but also placed much greater weight on relationships and character virtues when expressing the same principles. Nurses also emphasised patient autonomy, while doctors were more likely to advocate beneficence, when the two principles conflicted. CONCLUSION: The study indicates that ethical theory can, contrary to the charges of certain critics, be relevant to everyday health care-if it (a) attends to social context and (b) is flexible enough to draw on various schools of theory. PMID:8910782

Doctor Shopping Behavior for Zolpidem Among Insomnia Patients in Taiwan: A Nationwide Population-Based Study.

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Lu, Tzu-Hsuan; Lee, Yen-Ying; Lee, Hsin-Chien; Lin, You-Meei

2015-07-01

Although zolpidem is listed as a controlled drug in Taiwan, patients' behavior has not been restricted and has led to the problem of doctor shopping behavior (DSB), leading to overutilization of medical resources and excess spending. The National Health Insurance Administration in Taiwan has instituted a new policy to regulate physicians' prescribing behavior and decrease DSB. This retrospective study aimed to analyze the DSB for zolpidem by insomnia patients and assess related factors. Data were extracted from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database in Taiwan. Individuals with a diagnosis of insomnia who received more than one prescription of zolpidem in 2008 were followed for 24 mo. Doctor shopping was defined as ≥ 2 prescriptions by different doctors within ≥ 1 day overlapping in the duration of therapy. The percentage of zolpidem obtained through doctor shopping was used as an indicator of the DSB of each patient. Among the 6,947 insomnia patients who were prescribed zolpidem, 1,652 exhibited DSB (23.78%). The average dose of zolpidem dispensed for each patient during 24 mo was 244.21 daily defined doses. The doctor shopping indicator (DSI) was 0.20 (standard deviation, 0.23) among patients with DSB. Younger age, chronic diseases, high number of diseases, higher premium status, high socioeconomic status, and fewer people served per practicing physicians were all factors significantly related to doctor shopping behavior. Doctor shopping for zolpidem appears to be an important issue in Taiwan. Implementing a proper referral system with efficient data exchange by physician or pharmacist-led medication reconciliation process might reduce DSB. © 2015 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.

Placebo and the new physiology of the doctor-patient relationship.

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Benedetti, Fabrizio

2013-07-01

Modern medicine has progressed in parallel with the advancement of biochemistry, anatomy, and physiology. By using the tools of modern medicine, the physician today can treat and prevent a number of diseases through pharmacology, genetics, and physical interventions. Besides this materia medica, the patient's mind, cognitions, and emotions play a central part as well in any therapeutic outcome, as investigated by disciplines such as psychoneuroendocrinoimmunology. This review describes recent findings that give scientific evidence to the old tenet that patients must be both cured and cared for. In fact, we are today in a good position to investigate complex psychological factors, like placebo effects and the doctor-patient relationship, by using a physiological and neuroscientific approach. These intricate psychological factors can be approached through biochemistry, anatomy, and physiology, thus eliminating the old dichotomy between biology and psychology. This is both a biomedical and a philosophical enterprise that is changing the way we approach and interpret medicine and human biology. In the first case, curing the disease only is not sufficient, and care of the patient is of tantamount importance. In the second case, the philosophical debate about the mind-body interaction can find some important answers in the study of placebo effects. Therefore, maybe paradoxically, the placebo effect and the doctor-patient relationship can be approached by using the same biochemical, cellular and physiological tools of the materia medica, which represents an epochal transition from general concepts such as suggestibility and power of mind to a true physiology of the doctor-patient interaction.

The Effect of Screen-to-Screen Versus Face-to-Face Consultation on Doctor-Patient Communication: An Experimental Study with Simulated Patients.

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Tates, Kiek; Antheunis, Marjolijn L; Kanters, Saskia; Nieboer, Theodoor E; Gerritse, Maria Be

2017-12-20

Despite the emergence of Web-based patient-provider contact, it is still unclear how the quality of Web-based doctor-patient interactions differs from face-to-face interactions. This study aimed to examine (1) the impact of a consultation medium on doctors' and patients' communicative behavior in terms of information exchange, interpersonal relationship building, and shared decision making and (2) the mediating role of doctors' and patients' communicative behavior on satisfaction with both types of consultation medium. Doctor-patient consultations on pelvic organ prolapse were simulated, both in a face-to-face and in a screen-to-screen (video) setting. Twelve medical interns and 6 simulated patients prepared 4 different written scenarios and were randomized to perform a total of 48 consultations. Effects of the consultations were measured by questionnaires that participants filled out directly after the consultation. With respect to patient-related outcomes, satisfaction, perceived information exchange, interpersonal relationship building, and perceived shared decision making showed no significant differences between face-to-face and screen-to-screen consultations. Patients' attitude toward Web-based communication (b=-.249, P=.02 and patients' perceived time and attention (b=.271, P=.03) significantly predicted patients' perceived interpersonal relationship building. Patients' perceived shared decision making was positively related to their satisfaction with the consultation (b=.254, P=.005). Overall, patients experienced significantly greater shared decision making with a female doctor (mean 4.21, SD 0.49) than with a male doctor (mean 3.66 [SD 0.73]; b=.401, P=.009). Doctor-related outcomes showed no significant differences in satisfaction, perceived information exchange, interpersonal relationship building, and perceived shared decision making between the conditions. There was a positive relationship between perceived information exchange and doctors

Doctor-Patient Knowledge Transfer: Innovative Technologies and Policy Implications

OpenAIRE

Sára, Zoltán; Csedő, Zoltán; Tóth, Tamás; Fejes, József; Pörzse, Gábor

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to empirically investigate the barriers in doctor-patient communication and knowledge transfer and the role of innovative technologies in overcoming these barriers. We applied qualitative research methods. Our results show that patients extensively use information sources, primarily the Internet before the visits. Patients regularly apply a self-diagnosis regarding their diseases. This implies several risks as many of them are not able to properly inte...

Perception, attitude and usage of complementary and alternative medicine among doctors and patients in a tertiary care hospital in India.

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Roy, Vandana; Gupta, Monica; Ghosh, Raktim Kumar

2015-01-01

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has been practiced in India for thousands of years. The aim of this study was to determine the extent of use, perception and attitude of doctors and patients utilizing the same healthcare facility. This study was conducted among 200 doctors working at a tertiary care teaching Hospital, India and 403 patients attending the same, to determine the extent of usage, attitude and perception toward CAM. The use of CAM was more among doctors (58%) when compared with the patients (28%). Among doctors, those who had utilized CAM themselves, recommended CAM as a therapy to their patients (52%) and enquired about its use from patients (37%) to a greater extent. CAM was used concomitantly with allopathic medicine by 60% patients. Very few patients (7%) were asked by their doctors about CAM use, and only 19% patients voluntarily informed their doctors about the CAM they were using. Most patients who used CAM felt it to be more effective, safer, less costly and easily available in comparison to allopathic medicines. CAM is used commonly by both doctors and patients. There is a lack of communication between doctors and patients regarding CAM, which may be improved by sensitization of doctors and inclusion of CAM in the medical curriculum.

Narcotic Use and Postoperative Doctor Shopping by Patients with Nephrolithiasis Requiring Operative Intervention: Implications for Patient Safety.

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Kappa, Stephen F; Green, Elizabeth A; Miller, Nicole L; Herrell, Stanley D; Mitchell, Christopher R; Mir, Hassan R; Resnick, Matthew J

2016-09-01

We sought to determine perioperative patterns of narcotic use and the prevalence of postoperative doctor shopping among patients with nephrolithiasis requiring operative management. We retrospectively reviewed the records of consecutive patients residing in Tennessee who required ureteroscopy with laser lithotripsy for nephrolithiasis at a single institution from January to December 2013. Using the Tennessee CSMD (Controlled Substances Medication Database) patients were categorized by the number of postoperative narcotic providers. Doctor shopping behavior was identified as any patient seeking more than 1 narcotic provider within 3 months of surgery. Demographic and clinical characteristics associated with doctor shopping behavior were identified. During the study period 200 eligible patients underwent ureteroscopy with laser lithotripsy for nephrolithiasis, of whom 48 (24%) were prescribed narcotics by more than 1 provider after surgery. Compared to those receiving narcotics from a single provider, patients with multiple narcotic providers were younger (48.1 vs 54.2 years, p shopping is common among patients with nephrolithiasis who require operative management. Urologists should be aware of available registry data to decrease the likelihood of redundant narcotic prescribing. Copyright © 2016 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Placebo and the relationship between doctors and patients. Overview].

Science.gov (United States)

Scriba, P C

2012-09-01

In medicine, placebos are used both in scientific studies and for practical therapeutic purposes. In evidence-based medicine, the efficacy of treatment may be determined as the difference between the effects of the verum (the active study drug) and the placebo, the latter being a substance lacking specific action on the disease under consideration. However, the improvements in patients' conditions under placebo treatment may be substantial and comparable to those with verum. Genuine placebos predominate in clinical studies, while pseudoplacebos prevail in practical therapy. The term pseudoplacebo can also be applied to many procedures in complementary medicine, including homeopathic medicine (Büchel et al., Placebo in der Medizin, 2011). The comprehensive definition of placebo, as used in a report by the German Medical Association (Büchel et al., Placebo in der Medizin, 2011), states that a placebo effect may occur even when treating with verum. The placebo effect is modulated by the context of the treatment, by the expectations of the patients and the doctors, and by the success of the relationship between doctors and patients. A number of unspecific effects, e.g., spontaneous alleviation, statistical effects, variance with time, methodological errors, in addition to the placebo effect make up the total response that is called"placebo reaction." A complete list of the effectiveness of placebo for all important diseases is still lacking. Further, it is not possible to predict which patients will respond to placebo. Which characteristics of doctors are important (competence, empathy, communicative ability and partnership, trust) in order to achieve a placebo effect, particularly in addition to the verum effect measures of evidence-based medicine? Are there doctors who are better in this than others? Could the nocebo effect weaken the efficacy of treatment in evidence-based medicine? Since a placebo effect may occur in almost any standard therapy, information about

Factors influencing the missed nursing care in patients from a private hospital

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raúl Hernández-Cruz

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective: to determine the factors that influence the missed nursing care in hospitalized patients. Methods: descriptive correlational study developed at a private hospital in Mexico. To identify the missed nursing care and related factors, the MISSCARE survey was used, which measures the care missed and associated factors. The care missed and the factors were grouped in global and dimension rates. For the analysis, descriptive statistics, Spearman’s correlation and simple linear regression were used. Approval for the study was obtained from the ethics committee. Results: the participants were 71 nurses from emergency, intensive care and inpatient services. The global missed care index corresponded to M=7.45 (SD=10.74; the highest missed care index was found in the dimension basic care interventions (M=13.02, SD=17.60. The main factor contributing to the care missed was human resources (M=56.13, SD=21.38. The factors related to the care missed were human resources (rs=0.408, p<0.001 and communication (rs=0.418, p<0.001. Conclusions: the nursing care missed is mainly due to the human resource factor; these study findings will permit the strengthening of nursing care continuity.

Feedback intervention to doctors improves patient satisfaction among outpatients in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China.

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Qiao, T; Geater, A F; Chongsuvivatwong, V; Fan, Y; Guo, Z

2017-11-01

The doctor-patient relationship (DPR) in China is known to be tense. We tested whether an intervention program providing individualized feedback to doctors by patients could improve patients' satisfaction in an outpatient setting. A non-randomized controlled prepost intervention study in a tertiary hospital. Six surgery clinics were chosen as the intervention group and eight internal medicine clinics as the control group. Before the program started, patients attending each group of clinics were asked to fill in the Short-Form Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ-18). In the experimental period, patients attending the intervention clinics were requested to rate their perception of the doctor's quality of care in various domains on an 8-question feedback card immediately after exiting from the examination room and to drop the completed card into the feedback box for the particular doctor. The cards were then collected by the doctor confidentially at the end of each day. There was no feedback in the control clinics. After the experimental period ended, the doctors in both groups of clinics were reassessed by a new series of patients using PSQ-18. The PSQ-18 scores were compared within the same group of clinics over time, and the changes in satisfaction score compared between intervention and control clinics. There were 189 and 190 responders in the intervention group and 190 and 200 in the control group, before and after the intervention period, respectively. Scores in all domains increased significantly (P patient satisfaction scores in the intervention clinics compared with the control clinics was confirmed by mixed-effects linear regression controlling for the effects of gender, age, marital status, education, and household income in the domains of general satisfaction, technical quality, communication, and accessibility and convenience. Timely feedback to doctors of patients' perception of quality of care received can improve outpatient satisfaction in a

Developing a psychiatrist-patient relationship when both people are doctors: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Stanton, Josephine; Randal, Patte

2016-05-20

To better understand the complexities of developing an effective psychiatrist-patient relationship when both people involved are doctors. In-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with 11 doctors with experiences as patients of psychiatrists (DPs) and eight psychiatrists with experience of treating doctors (TPs). A thematic analysis was undertaken. The medical culture of unrealistically high standards with limited room for vulnerability and fallibility, vigilance for judgment and valuing clinical over personal knowledge affected both people in the relationship. DPs struggled with the contradictions involved in entering the patient role but tried hard to be good patients. They wanted guidance but found it hard to accept and seldom communicated dissatisfaction or disagreement to their TPs. They described widely varying responses to diagnosis and treatment within the biomedical model. TPs described enjoyment and satisfaction and extreme challenge in engaging with TPs. Despite focusing on providing ordinary care they described providing extra care in many ways. This study brings forward important issues when a psychiatrist is building a therapeutic relationship with another doctor. These are also likely to arise with other people and contribute to making truly patient-centred 'ordinary care' a hard ideal to fulfil. They include: (1) doctors' sense of ourselves as invincible, (2) TPs' sense of personal connection to, and identity with, DPs, (3) having extensive medical knowledge and (4) striving to be good patients. We need to make these issues explicit and enable the DP (or other patients) to tell their story and speak about their experience of the consultation so that any potential rupture in the therapeutic relationship can be addressed early. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Impact of organizational and individual factors on patient-provider relationships: A national survey of doctors, nurses and patients in China

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Ping; Wang, Fang; Cheng, Yao; Zhang, Liu yi; Ye, Bei zhu; Jiang, Hong wei; Sun, Yi; Zhu, Xi; Liang, Yuan

2017-01-01

Objectives To provide an empirical examination of patient–provider relationships (PPR) and its association with organizational and individual factors. Methods A national cross-sectional survey was conducted by stratified cluster sampling in 77 hospitals across seven provinces in China between July 2014 and April 2015, involving 3621 doctors, 5561 nurses, and 8022 patients with response rates of 62.93%, 61.16%, and 33.08%, respectively. Self-perceived PPR was the outcome variable. Organizational factors included hospital type (western medicine [WM] and traditional Chinese medicine [TCM] hospital); hospital level (tertiary and secondary hospital); area of specialization (internal medicine and surgery); ratio of doctors (nurses) to ward beds; doctors/nurses’ concerns about performance assessment; and patients’ perceptions of healthcare cost. Individual factors included consultation, listening to patients and socio-demographic factors. Results 54.6% of doctors, 36.6% of nurses, and 10.2% of patients perceived PPR as poor. Organizational factors independently associated with providers’ perception of poor PPR included hospital type (WM vs TCM: OR = 1.25 [95% CI: 1.06–1.47]) and concerns about performance assessment (high vs low levels: OR = 1.40 [95% CI: 1.14–1.72]) for doctors, and concerns about performance assessment (average vs low levels: OR = 0.79 [95% CI: 0.67–0.93]) for nurses. Those associated with patients’ perception of poor PPR included hospital type (WM vs TCM: OR = 0.63 [95% CI: 0.53–0.74]) and hospital level (tertiary vs secondary: OR = 0.65 [95% CI: 0.51–0.82]). Doctors and nurses reporting listening to patients “frequently” had better perceptions of PPR (OR = 0.46 [95%CI: 0.38–0.56] and 0.49 [95% CI: 0.41–0.59] for doctors and nurses, respectively), as did their patients (OR = 0.24 [95% CI: 0.18–0.31] and 0.54 [95% CI: 0.35–0.84] for doctors and nurses, respectively). Conclusions Although our findings require validation in

The Effect of Screen-to-Screen Versus Face-to-Face Consultation on Doctor-Patient Communication: An Experimental Study with Simulated Patients

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tates, K.; Antheunis, M.L.; Kanters, S.; Nieboer, T.E.; Gerritse, M.B.E.

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: Despite the emergence of Web-based patient-provider contact, it is still unclear how the quality of Web-based doctor-patient interactions differs from face-to-face interactions. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine (1) the impact of a consultation medium on doctors' and patients'

Evaluation of patient and doctor perception toward the use of telemedicine in Apollo Tele Health Services, India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rajesh V Acharya

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Telemedicine incorporates electronic information and medical technology. It connects healthcare through vast distances which would benefit both patients and doctors. The aim of this questionnaire study was to evaluate the effects of telemedicine on patients and medical specialists. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 122 participants (71 patients and 51 doctors on satisfaction in quality of service, cost-effectiveness, and problems encountered in healthcare provided by the telemedicine in Apollo Tele Health Services, Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The data for each group were calculated and compared. Results: About 80% patients and all the doctors reported their satisfaction on the quality of treatment given through telemedicine. Approximately, 90% of the participants found telemedicine cost-effective and 61% of the doctors found an increase in patient's inflow apart for their regular practice. Problems encountered in telemedicine were 47% in technical issues and 39% in time scheduling by doctors and 31% of patients were uncomfortable to face the camera, and 24% had technical issues. Conclusions: The results of the present study showed that telemedicine in healthcare could prove to be useful to patients in distant regions and to rural doctors in India. In the near future, telemedicine can be considered as an alternate to face to face patient care.

'How do you know what Aunt Martha looks like?' A video elicitation study exploring tacit clues in doctor-patient interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Henry, Stephen G; Forman, Jane H; Fetters, Michael D

2011-10-01

Theory suggests that tacit clues inform clinical judgements, but the prevalence and role of tacit clues during clinical interactions is unknown. This study explored whether doctors and patients identify information likely to be tacit clues or judgements based on tacit clues during health maintenance examinations. Qualitative analysis of video elicitation interview transcripts involving 18 community-based primary care doctors and 36 patients. Outcomes were description and analysis of tacit clues and judgements based on tacit clues mentioned by participants. A total of 57 references to tacit clues and 53 references to judgements based on tacit clues were identified from patient and doctor transcripts. Non-verbal behaviours comprised the most common category of tacit clues (53% of doctor comments; 42% of patient comments). Patients mostly discussed judgements based on tacit clues that related to the doctor-patient relationship. Doctors discussed actively using non-verbal behaviours to provide patients with tacit clues about the doctor-patient relationship. They also mentioned tacit clues that informed medical judgements and decision making. Gestalt judgements based on tacit clues were common (33% of doctor comments). Several participants identified instances in which they had difficulty articulating their rationale for specific judgements. Doctors varied widely in how frequently they mentioned tacit clues. During video elicitation interviews, patients and doctors identified tacit clues and judgements based on these clues as playing a role during health maintenance examinations. Future research should further elucidate the role of tacit clues in medical judgements and doctor-patient relationships. Published 2011. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Gingival Recession in a Child‑Patient; Easily Missed Etiologies ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

with age-appropriate complement of teeth except for a missing tooth 42. ... frenal attachment is more important in gingival recession in the child‑patient. A healthy child‑ ... spared rules out a possible role of brushing-induced gingival abrasion.

Does Depressive Symptomatology Influence Teenage Patients and Their Mothers’ Experience of Doctor-Patient Relationship in Two Balkan Countries?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vaitsa Giannouli

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Doctor-patient relationship is considered to be a special relationship and a keystone of medical care. A fundamental factor in this sort of relationship is the communication, which is strictly examined between the two involving parts, without taking into consideration in the case of children and teenagers the possible influence of their parents. The mothers more often accompany their children to the doctor and they become a third part of the doctor-patient relationship. In Greece during February-May 2013, 196 mothers and their teenage children (suffering from acute or chronic illnesses completed two questionnaires: the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D and a series of questions on a Likert scale from the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ about the experienced satisfaction with the characteristics of this communication. In Bulgaria during July-August 2013, 60 mothers and their children completed the same questionnaires. The results revealed an unexpected finding only for the Greek sample - the quality of relationship between doctor and patient (for both Greek mothers and adolescents was negatively associated with their scores on CES-D (i.e. low level of depression together with low satisfaction derived from the relationship with the doctor, while no differences were found between the participants’ groups (mothers, children, acute or chronic disease. This surprising finding of high depression-high satisfaction was not found in the Bulgarian sample and therefore needs further investigation.

Mobile technology supporting trainee doctors' workplace learning and patient care: an evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hardyman, Wendy; Bullock, Alison; Brown, Alice; Carter-Ingram, Sophie; Stacey, Mark

2013-01-21

The amount of information needed by doctors has exploded. The nature of knowledge (explicit and tacit) and processes of knowledge acquisition and participation are complex. Aiming to assist workplace learning, Wales Deanery funded "iDoc", a project offering trainee doctors a Smartphone library of medical textbooks. Data on trainee doctors' (Foundation Year 2) workplace information seeking practice was collected by questionnaire in 2011 (n = 260). iDoc baseline questionnaires (n = 193) collected data on Smartphone usage alongside other workplace information sources. Case reports (n = 117) detail specific instances of Smartphone use. Most frequently (daily) used information sources in the workplace: senior medical staff (80% F2 survey; 79% iDoc baseline); peers (70%; 58%); and other medical/nursing team staff (53% both datasets). Smartphones were used more frequently by males (p mobile technology used for simple (information-based), complex (problem-based) clinical questions and clinical procedures (skills-based scenarios). From thematic analysis, the Smartphone library assisted: teaching and learning from observation; transition from medical student to new doctor; trainee doctors' discussions with seniors; independent practice; patient care; and this 'just-in-time' access to reliable information supported confident and efficient decision-making. A variety of information sources are used regularly in the workplace. Colleagues are used daily but seniors are not always available. During transitions, constant access to the electronic library was valued. It helped prepare trainee doctors for discussions with their seniors, assisting the interchange between explicit and tacit knowledge.By supporting accurate prescribing and treatment planning, the electronic library contributed to enhanced patient care. Trainees were more rapidly able to medicate patients to reduce pain and more quickly call for specific assessments. However, clinical decision-making often requires

Pivotal role of families in doctor-patient communication in oncology: a qualitative study of patients, their relatives and cancer clinicians.

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Datta, S S; Tripathi, L; Varghese, R; Logan, J; Gessler, S; Chatterjee, S; Bhaumik, J; Menon, U

2017-09-01

Families are a unique source of support for many cancer patients. Most advanced communication skills training for oncologists are patient centred and do not cover interactions with family members. The current study used in-depth qualitative interviews of patients, relatives and cancer clinicians with thematic analysis to explore the role of family members in the communication process. Forty-one participants included 10 cancer patients, 10 relatives ensuring proportionate representation of both gender and primary cancer site and 21 doctors representing both medical and surgical oncology. Nineteen of 20 patients and relatives wanted an "open and honest" discussion with their doctors. All patients, relatives and doctors preferred involvement of the family at most stages of cancer treatment. Five themes were identified in relation to communication with family members. The participants highlighted the "importance of family for physical and psychological care," they emphasised the need to "balance patient autonomy and relatives desire to be protective" using varied "negotiating strategies" that are influenced by "socioeconomic circumstances of both patient and family." The doctor-patient-relative communication process was not static with preferences changing over time. The data suggests that communication skills training of cancer clinicians should incorporate modules on better communication with relatives. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Courteous but not curious: how doctors' politeness masks their existential neglect. A qualitative study of video-recorded patient consultations.

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Agledahl, Kari Milch; Gulbrandsen, Pål; Førde, Reidun; Wifstad, Åge

2011-11-01

To study how doctors care for their patients, both medically and as fellow humans, through observing their conduct in patient-doctor encounters. Qualitative study in which 101 videotaped consultations were observed and analysed using a Grounded Theory approach, generating explanatory categories through a hermeneutical analysis of the taped consultations. A 500-bed general teaching hospital in Norway. 71 doctors working in clinical non-psychiatric departments and their patients. The doctors were concerned about their patients' health and how their medical knowledge could be of service. This medical focus often over-rode other important aspects of the consultations, especially existential elements. The doctors actively directed the focus away from their patients' existential concerns onto medical facts and rarely addressed the personal aspects of a patient's condition, treating them in a biomechanical manner. At the same time, however, the doctors attended to their patients with courteousness, displaying a polite and friendly attitude and emphasising the relationship between them. The study suggests that the main failing of patient-doctor encounters is not a lack of courteous manners, but the moral offence patients experience when existential concerns are ignored. Improving doctors' social and communication skills cannot resolve this moral problem, which appears to be intrinsically bound to modern medical practice. Acknowledging this moral offence would, however, be the first step towards minimising the effects thereof.

Patients' views on changes in doctor-patient communication between 1982 and 2001 : a mixed-methods study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Butalid, Ligaya; Verhaak, Peter F. M.; Boeije, Hennie R.; Bensing, Jozien M.

2012-01-01

Background: Doctor-patient communication has been influenced over time by factors such as the rise of evidence-based medicine and a growing emphasis on patient-centred care. Despite disputes in the literature on the tension between evidence-based medicine and patient-centered medicine, patients'

Shrinking social space in the doctor-modern patient relationship: a review of forces for, and implications of, homologisation.

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Buetow, Stephen; Jutel, Annemarie; Hoare, Karen

2009-01-01

Forces for modernisation appear to have led to role convergence and reduced social distances between doctors and modern patients. This review aims to document and understand this process in theory and practice, and to consider the implications for modern patients in particular but also non-modern patients and doctors. Narrative review of published and grey literature identified from sources including electronic databases, the Internet and reference lists of retrieved works. Forces for role convergence between doctors and modern patients include consumerism and increased patient literacy; socio-technological changes; values convergence; increased licence for doctors to use their emotions in patient care; and structural changes in the social organisation of health care. As a result, modern patients appear to have gained more in health care than they have lost and more than have the non-modern (or less modern) patients. Doctors have lost authority and autonomy in patient care. The net impulse toward role convergence is, on balance, a positive development. The differential uptake of modernisation by patients has increased health inequalities between modern and non-modern patients. The need of doctors to accommodate these changes has contributed to a form of reprofessonalisation. A key challenge is to make available the benefits of modernisation, for example through patient education, to as many patients as possible while minimising the risk of harm. It is important therefore to elucidate and be responsive to patient preferences for modernisation, for example by enlisting the support of the modern patients in overcoming barriers to the modernisation of non-modern patients. There is also a need to support doctors as they redefine their own professional role identity.

Rational non-interventional paternalism: why doctors ought to make judgments of what is best for their patients.

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Savulescu, J

1995-12-01

This paper argues that doctors ought to make all things considered value judgments about what is best for their patients. It illustrates some of the shortcomings of the model of doctor as 'fact-provider'. The 'fact-provider' model fails to take account of the fact that practising medicine necessarily involves making value judgments; that medical practice is a moral practice and requires that doctors reflect on what ought to be done, and that patients can make choices which fail to express their autonomy and which are based on mistaken judgments of value. If doctors are properly to respect patient autonomy and to function as moral agents, they must make evaluations of what their patients ought to do, all things considered. This paper argues for 'rational, non-interventional paternalism'. This is a practice in which doctors form conceptions of what is best for their patients and argue rationally with them. It differs from old-style paternalism in that it is not committed to doing what is best.

The impact of an intervention in intercultural communication on doctor-patient interaction in The Netherlands.

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Schouten, Barbara C; Meeuwesen, Ludwien; Harmsen, Hans A M

2005-09-01

Findings of scarcely available studies indicate that there are substantial gaps in intercultural doctor-patient communication. In order to improve intercultural communication in medical practice in The Netherlands, an educational intervention was developed. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of this intervention on doctor-patient communication. Participants (general practitioners: n=38; patients: n=124) were assigned at random to an intervention or a control group. GPs in the intervention group received 2.5 days training on intercultural communication. Patients in the intervention group were exposed to a videotaped instruction in the waiting room, right before the consultation. Data were collected through videotapes of visits of ethnic minority patients to their GP and home interviews with the patients after their medical visit. Communication behaviour was assessed using the Roter interaction analysis system (RIAS). Interview length was assessed as well. The length of the medical encounter increased significantly after having received the intervention. Total number of GP utterances increased significantly too. When comparing relative frequencies on affective and instrumental verbal behaviour of both patients and doctors, no significant changes could be detected. It is concluded that there seems to be some change in doctor-patient interaction, but RIAS may not be suitable to detect subtle changes in the medical communication process. It is recommended to use other analysis methods to assess cultural differences in medical communication. Knowledge about possible antecedents of gaps in intercultural medical communication should be increased in order to be able to design effective interventions for intercultural doctor-patient communication.

Ethnic inequalities in doctor-patient communication regarding personal care plans: the mediating effects of positive mental wellbeing.

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Umeh, Kanayo F

2017-04-06

There is limited understanding of ethnic inequalities in doctor-patient communication regarding personal care plans (PCPs). This study investigated the mediating effects of positive mental wellbeing on differences in PCP-related doctor-patient communication amongst South Asian and Caucasian UK residents. Data from 10,980 respondents to the 2013 Health Survey for England was analysed using bootstrapping methods. Constructs from the WEMWBS (Warwick and Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale) (Stewart-Brown, S., and K. Janmohamed. 2008. Warwick, UK) were assessed as mediators of relations between ethnicity and several doctor-patient communication variables, including PCP-related interactions; (a) had a PCP-related discussion about a long-term condition with a doctor/nurse, and (b) had this conversation within the past year, (c) agreed to a PCP with a health professional; and (d) talked to a doctor in the past 2 weeks. Bootstrapped mediation analysis (Hayes, A. F. 2013. Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-based Approach. New York, NY: The Guilford Press) showed that three positive mind-sets mediated associations between ethnicity and doctor-patient contact, including PCP-related communication. Being able to make up one's mind (ab = -0.05; BC a CI [-0.14, 0.01]) mediated the effect of ethnicity on agreeing to a PCP, while having energy to spare (ab = 0.07; BC a CI [-0.04, 0.12]), and feeling good about oneself (ab = 0.03; BC a CI [0.01, 0.07]), mediated ethnic effects on talking to a doctor during the past fortnight. The mediating effect of reported energy persisted after controlling for medical history, perceived health, and other covariates. Ethnic disparities in doctor-patient interaction, including PCP-related communication, are partly explained by positive mental wellbeing. Gauging positive psychological moods in patients, particularly self-worth, self-perceived vigour and decisiveness, are relevant to

Exploring the Dimensions of Doctor-Patient Relationship in Clinical Practice in Hospital Settings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saurabh RamBiharilal Shrivastava

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The Doctor-Patient Relationship (DPR is a complex concept in the medical sociology in which patients voluntarily approach a doctor and thus become a part of a contract in which they tends to abide with the doctor’s guidance. Globally, the DPR has changed drastically over the years owing to the commercialization and privatization of the health sector. Furthermore, the dynamics of the DPR has shown a significant change because of the formulation of consumer protection acts; clauses for professional misconduct and criminal negligence; establishment of patient forums and organizations; massive expansion of the mass media sector leading to increase in health awareness among people; and changes in the status of the doctors. Realizing the importance of DPR in the final outcome and quality of life of the patient, multiple measures have been suggested to make a correct diagnosis and enhance healing. To conclude, good DPR is the crucial determinant for a better clinical outcome and satisfaction with the patients, irrespective of the socio-cultural determinants.

Barriers to effective, safe communication and workflow between nurses and non-consultant hospital doctors during out-of-hours.

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Brady, Anne-Marie; Byrne, Gobnait; Quirke, Mary Brigid; Lynch, Aine; Ennis, Shauna; Bhangu, Jaspreet; Prendergast, Meabh

2017-11-01

This study aimed to evaluate the nature and type of communication and workflow arrangements between nurses and doctors out-of-hours (OOH). Effective communication and workflow arrangements between nurses and doctors are essential to minimize risk in hospital settings, particularly in the out-of-hour's period. Timely patient flow is a priority for all healthcare organizations and the quality of communication and workflow arrangements influences patient safety. Qualitative descriptive design and data collection methods included focus groups and individual interviews. A 500 bed tertiary referral acute hospital in Ireland. Junior and senior Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors, staff nurses and nurse managers. Both nurses and doctors acknowledged the importance of good interdisciplinary communication and collaborative working, in sustaining effective workflow and enabling a supportive working environment and patient safety. Indeed, issues of safety and missed care OOH were found to be primarily due to difficulties of communication and workflow. Medical workflow OOH is often dependent on cues and communication to/from nursing. However, communication systems and, in particular the bleep system, considered central to the process of communication between doctors and nurses OOH, can contribute to workflow challenges and increased staff stress. It was reported as commonplace for routine work, that should be completed during normal hours, to fall into OOH when resources were most limited, further compounding risk to patient safety. Enhancement of communication strategies between nurses and doctors has the potential to remove barriers to effective decision-making and patient flow. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Do patients with chronic rhinosinusitis benefit from consultation with an ENT-doctor?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lange, Bibi; Thilsing, Trine; Baelum, Jesper

2015-01-01

CONCLUSION: By consulting an ENT-doctor, patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), in the general population, receive disease information and adjustment of treatment which can improve disease-specific Quality-of-Life and may improve objective measurements. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to follow......, peak nasal inspiratory flow, smell test, and skin prick test. RESULTS: Out of 91 persons with CRS, only 42% had previously consulted an ENT-doctor, and 51% were in current treatment for CRS. Most patients were advised medical treatment and 20% underwent surgery. Disease-specific Quality-of-Life, peak...

Doctors in a Southeast Asian country communicate sub-optimally regardless of patients' educational background.

Science.gov (United States)

Claramita, Mora; Dalen, Jan Van; Van Der Vleuten, Cees Pm

2011-12-01

To explore the relationship between the style of doctor-patient communication and patients' educational background in a Southeast Asian teaching hospital setting using the Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS). We analyzed a total of 245 audio-taped consultations involving 30 internal medicine residents with 7-10 patients each in the internal medicine outpatient clinics. The patients were categorized into a group with a high and a group with a low educational level. We ranked the data into 41 RIAS utterances and RIAS-based composite categories in order of observed frequency during consultations. The residents invariantly used a paternalistic style irrespective of patients' educational background. The RIAS utterances and the composite categories show no significant relationship between communication style and patients' educational level. Doctors in a Southeast Asian country use a paternalistic communication style during consultations, regardless of patients' educational background. To approach a more partnership doctor-patient communication, culture and clinical environment concern of Southeast Asian should be further investigated. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The attitudes of general hospital doctors toward patients with comorbid mental illness.

Science.gov (United States)

Noblett, Joanne E; Lawrence, Robert; Smith, Jared G

2015-01-01

What are the attitudes of general hospital doctors toward patients with comorbid mental illness? Do certain characteristics of the health professional related to attitude valence to patients with comorbid mental illness? An anonymous questionnaire was sent out to a cohort of doctors working in three General Hospitals in South West London. The questionnaire included vignettes to assess the respondents' attitudes toward eight patients presenting with a physical compliant with different clinical histories, including depression, schizophrenia, personality disorder, diabetes, and criminal behavior. A total of 52 participants completed the questionnaire; 40 females and 12 males. Across all domains, the most positive attitudes were held toward patients without a diagnosis of mental illness. The least positive attitudes were toward patients with schizophrenia, personality disorder, and those classified as "criminals," and negative attitudes relating to the unpredictability of patients was identified in these categories. There was no statistically significant difference in attitudes depending on age or level of training. However, female participants tended to endorse more positive attitudinal responses, most clearly toward patients with depression and heroin addiction. Negative attitudes of doctors were identified toward certain mental illness diagnoses and are likely to contribute the physical health disparity between patients with and without a comorbid mental illness. This raises the question as to how these attitudes can be changed in order to improve the parity of physical health care between patient with and without mental illness. © The Author(s) 2015.

The image ofan ideal psychiatrist inthe eyes of medical students, patients and doctors involved inpsychiatric care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksandra Margulska

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Aim: The aim of the study was to determine differences in the image of ideal psychiatrist (IIP among patients, doctors involved in psychiatric care and medical students and also between individuals with different work experience (doctors vs. students. The psychiatrist’s personality seems an important factor in supporting therapeutic process; therefore it is worth searching for the patient’s needs. Materials and methods: Three groups participated in the study: patients of the psychiatric units, medical students of 6th year and psychiatrists. The Gough and Heilbrun ACL (Adjective Check List – based on Mur‑ ray’s theory of needs – was used to assess IIP. Results: Data analysis revealed statistically significant differences among patients, doctors and students involving five scales: Nurturance, Aggression, Change, Succorance and Deference. Patients had lower scores on Change scale than doctors and higher scores on the Nurturance, Succurance and Deference than stu‑ dents. Psychiatrists had higher scores on Nurturance and Deference scale and lower score on Aggression scale than students. Conclusions: The findings showed differences in the expectations of patients compared to those of students and doctors. The most significant difference that was observed involved the Change. It may indicate that patients prefer order, conventional approach and stability in psychiatrist’s personality traits more commonly than doctors. Study findings suggest that work experience has impact on IIP: with increasing work experience, opinion about IIP comes closer to patients’ expectations.

Exploring the Influence of Nursing Work Environment and Patient Safety Culture on Missed Nursing Care in Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Kyoung-Ja; Yoo, Moon Sook; Seo, Eun Ji

2018-04-20

This study aimed to explore the influence of nurse work environment and patient safety culture in hospital on instances of missed nursing care in South Korea. A cross-sectional design was used, in which a structured questionnaire was administered to 186 nurses working at a tertiary university hospital. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test or ANOVA, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis. Missed nursing care was found to be correlated with clinical career, nursing work environment and patient safety culture. The regression model explained approximately 30.3 % of missed nursing care. Meanwhile, staffing and resource adequacy (β = -.31, p = .001), nurse manager ability, leadership and support of nurses (β = -.26, p = .004), clinical career (β = -.21, p = .004), and perception on patient safety culture within unit (β = -.19, p = .041) were determined to be influencing factors on missed nursing care. This study has significance as it suggested that missed nursing care is affected by work environment factors within unit. This means that missed nursing care is a unit outcome affected by nurse work environment factors and patient safety culture. Therefore, missed nursing care can be managed through the implementation of interventions that promote a positive nursing work environment and patient safety culture. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Patient satisfaction with healthcare provided by family doctors: primary dimensions and an attempt at typology.

Science.gov (United States)

Marcinowicz, Ludmila; Chlabicz, Slawomir; Grebowski, Ryszard

2009-04-16

Patient satisfaction is a complex and difficult concept to measure, thus precluding the use of exclusively quantitative methods for its description. The purpose of this survey was firstly to identify particular healthcare dimensions that determine a patient's satisfaction or dissatisfaction; and secondly to attempt to typologise the patients' responses based on their evaluation of healthcare. Using a qualitative research design, thirty-six in-depth interviews with patients of family physicians were conducted: four patients from each of 9 family practices in different regions of Poland were interviewed. The main outcome measure was factors associated with patient satisfaction/dissatisfaction. In their evaluations of their contacts with family doctors, the patients cited mostly issues concerning interpersonal relationships with the doctor. Nearly 40% of the statements referred to this aspect of healthcare, with nearly equal proportions of positive and negative comments. The second most frequent category of responses concerned contextual factors (21%) that related to conditions of medical service, with two-thirds of the evaluations being negative. Statements concerning the doctor's competencies (12.9%) and personal qualities (10.5%) were less common. To improve the quality of healthcare, family doctors should take special care to ensure the quality of their interactions with patients.

Psychiatric Prescribers' Experiences With Doctor Shoppers.

Science.gov (United States)

Worley, Julie; Johnson, Mary; Karnik, Niranjan

2015-01-01

Doctor shopping is a primary method of prescription medication diversion. After opioids, benzodiazepines and stimulants are the next most common prescription medications used nonmedically. Studies have shown that patients who engage in doctor shopping find it fun, exciting, and easy to do. There is a lack of research on the prescriber's perspective on the phenomenon of doctor shopping. This study investigates the experiences of prescribers in psychiatry with patients who engage in doctor shopping. Fifteen prescribers including psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners working in outpatient psychiatry were interviewed to elicit detailed information about their experiences with patients who engage in doctor shopping. Themes found throughout the interview were that psychiatric prescribers' experience with patients who engage in doctor shopping includes (a) detecting red flags, (b) negative emotional responding, (c) addressing the patient and the problem, and (d) inconsistently implementing precautions. When red flags were detected when prescribing controlled drugs, prescribers in psychiatry experienced both their own negative emotional responses such as disappointment and resentment as well as the negative emotions of the patients such as anger and other extreme emotional responses. Psychiatric prescribers responded to patient's doctor shopping in a variety of ways such as changing their practice, discharging the patients or taking steps to not accept certain patients identified as being at risk for doctor shopping, as well as by talking to the patient and trying to offer them help. Despite experiencing doctor shopping, the prescribers inconsistently implemented precautionary measures such as checking prescription drug monitoring programs. © The Author(s) 2015.

Mobile health IT: the effect of user interface and form factor on doctor-patient communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Alsos, Ole Andreas; Das, Anita; Svanæs, Dag

2012-01-01

Introducing computers into primary care can have negative effects on the doctor-patient dialogue. Little is known about such effects of mobile health IT in point-of-care situations. To assess how different mobile information devices used by physicians in point-of-care situations support or hinder aspects of doctor-patient communication, such as face-to-face dialogue, nonverbal communication, and action transparency. The study draws on two different experimental simulation studies where 22 doctors, in 80 simulated ward rounds, accessed patient-related information from a paper chart, a PDA, and a laptop mounted on a trolley. Video recordings from the simulations were analyzed qualitatively. Interviews with clinicians and patients were used to triangulate the findings and to verify the realism and results of the simulations. The paper chart afforded smooth re-establishment of eye contact, better verbal and non-verbal contact, more gesturing, good visibility of actions, and quick information retrieval. The digital information devices lacked many of these affordances; physicians' actions were not visible for the patients, the user interfaces required much attention, gesturing was harder, and re-establishment of eye contact took more time. Physicians used the devices to display their actions to the patients. The analysis revealed that the findings were related to the user interface and form factor of the information devices, as well as the personal characteristics of the physician. When information is needed and has to be located at the point-of-care, the user interface and the physical form factor of the mobile information device are influential elements for successful collaboration between doctors and patients. Both elements need to be carefully designed so that physicians can use the devices to support face-to-face dialogue, nonverbal communication, and action visibility. The ability to facilitate and support the doctor-patient collaboration is a noteworthy usability

No Easy Talk: A Mixed Methods Study of Doctor Reported Barriers to Conducting Effective End-of-Life Conversations with Diverse Patients.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vyjeyanthi S Periyakoil

Full Text Available Though most patients wish to discuss end-of-life (EOL issues, doctors are reluctant to conduct end-of-life conversations. Little is known about the barriers doctors face in conducting effective EOL conversations with diverse patients. This mixed methods study was undertaken to empirically identify barriers faced by doctors (if any in conducting effective EOL conversations with diverse patients and to determine if the doctors' age, gender, ethnicity and medical sub-specialty influenced the barriers reported.Mixed-methods study of multi-specialty doctors caring for diverse, seriously ill patients in two large academic medical centers at the end of the training; data were collected from 2010 to 2012.Doctor-reported barriers to EOL conversations with diverse patients.1040 of 1234 potential subjects (84.3% participated. 29 participants were designated as the development cohort for coding and grounded theory analyses to identify primary barriers. The codes were validated by analyses of responses from 50 randomly drawn subjects from the validation cohort (n= 996 doctors. Qualitative responses from the validation cohort were coded and analyzed using quantitative methods. Only 0.01% doctors reported no barriers to conducting EOL conversations with patients. 99.99% doctors reported barriers with 85.7% finding it very challenging to conduct EOL conversations with all patients and especially so with patients whose ethnicity was different than their own. Asian-American doctors reported the most struggles (91.3%, followed by African Americans (85.3%, Caucasians (83.5% and Hispanic Americans (79.3% in conducting EOL conversations with their patients. The biggest doctor-reported barriers to effective EOL conversations are (i language and medical interpretation issues, (ii patient/family religio-spiritual beliefs about death and dying, (iii doctors' ignorance of patients' cultural beliefs, values and practices, (iv patient/family's cultural differences in truth

Development of a patient-doctor communication skills model for medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Young Hee; Lee, Young-Mee

2010-09-01

Communication is a core clinical skill that can be taught and learned. The authors intended to develop a patient-doctor communication model for teaching and assessing undergraduate medical students in Korea. To develop a model, literature reviews and an iterative process of discussion between faculty members of a communication skills course for second year medical students were conducted. The authors extracted common communication skill competencies by comparing the Kalamazoo Consensus Statement, SEGUE framework communication skills, the Calgary Cambridge Observation Guides, and previous communication skills lists that have been used by the authors. The content validity, with regard to clinical importance and feasibility, was surveyed by both faculty physicians and students. The first version of the model consisted of 36 items under 7 categories: initiating the session (8 items), building a relationship (6), gathering information (8), understanding a patient's perspectives (4), sharing information (4), reaching an agreement (3), and closing the session (3). It was used as a guide for both students and teachers in an actual communication skills course. At the end of the course, student performance was assessed using two 7-minute standardized patient interviews with a 34-item checklist. This assessment tool was modified from the first version of the model to reflect the case specificity of the scenarios. A patient-doctor communication model, which can be taught to those with limited patient care experience, was finally developed. We recommended a patient-doctor communication skills model that can be used for teaching and evaluating preclinical and clinical students. Further studies are needed to verify its validity and reliability.

Aspects of communication in medical life. Doctor-patient communication: differentiation and customization.

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Borţun, D; Matei, C S

2017-01-01

One of the weaknesses of the Romanian medical system is the absence of the communicational culture. This absence is felt at all levels of the healthcare system: doctor-patient relationship, doctor-patient's relatives relationship, labor relations within the medical teams and units, the management of the large hospitals and of the medical institutions from the public administration system and last, but not least, the relationships of these units and institutions with the public opinion and, particularly, with the stakeholders. This paper tackled with some of the principles and values that underlie an efficient communication, the default of which was felt in various domains of the Romanian medical life. They were analyzed from the perspective of the Romanian and international literature and the conclusions drawn might inspire proposals for the improvement of the medical education as well as for the professional development of the Romanian doctors.

Patient's Decision to Disclose the Use of Traditional and Complementary Medicine to Medical Doctor: A Descriptive Phenomenology Study

Science.gov (United States)

Kelak, Johny Anak; Safii, Razitasham

2018-01-01

Nondisclosure of traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) use may cause individual to be at risk of undue harm. This study aimed to explore patient's experience and views on their decision to disclose the use of T&CM to the doctor. An exploratory qualitative study using in-depth interview involving 10 primary care clinics attendees in Kuching was conducted. The results indicated that disclosure of T&CM use will motivate them to get information, increase doctor's awareness, and get support from family and friends for disclosure. Fear of negative relationship and negative response from doctors was a barrier for disclosure. Doctor's interpersonal and communication skills of being involved, treating patients respectfully, listening attentively, respecting privacy, and taking time for the patient were a critical component for disclosure. Intrapersonal trust regarding doctor influences their satisfaction on healthcare. Women are more open and receptive to a health concern and expressing negative emotions and tend to share problems, whereas men always described themselves as healthy, tended to keep their own personal feeling to themselves, and tended to not share. The doctor should consider gender differences in disclosure, their attitude towards T&CM use, and gained patient's trust in the delivery of healthcare services. Good interpersonal and communication skills must be maintained between doctor and patients. PMID:29636778

Doctors and patients in pain: Conflict and collaboration in opioid prescription in primary care.

Science.gov (United States)

Esquibel, Angela Y; Borkan, Jeffrey

2014-12-01

Use of chronic opioid therapy (COT) for chronic noncancer pain has dramatically increased in the United States. Patients seek compassionate care and relief while physicians struggle to manage patients' pain effectively without doing harm. This study explores the narratives of chronic noncancer pain patients receiving chronic opioid therapy and those of their physicians to better understand the effects of COT on the doctor-patient relationship. A mixed method study was conducted that included in-depth interviews and qualitative analysis of 21 paired patients with chronic pain and their physicians in the following groups: patients, physicians, and patient-physician pairs. Findings revealed that patients' narratives focus on suffering from chronic pain, with emphasis on the role of opioid therapy for pain relief, and physicians' narratives describe the challenges of treating patients with chronic pain on COT. Results elucidate the perceptions of ideal vs difficult patients and show that divergent patterns surrounding the consequences, utility, and goals of COT can negatively affect the doctor-patient relationship. The use of paired interviews through a narrative lens in this exploratory study offers a novel and informative approach for clinical practice and research. The findings have significant implications for improving doctor-patient communication and health outcomes by encouraging shared decision making and goal-directed health care encounters for physicians and patients with chronic pain on COT. This study found patterns of understanding pain, opioid pain medications, and the doctor-patient relationship for patients with chronic pain and their physicians using a narrative lens. Thematic findings in this exploratory study, which include a portrayal of collaborative vs conflictual relationships, suggest areas of future intervention and investigation. Copyright © 2014 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Extent and Determinants of Error in Doctors' Prognoses in Terminally Ill Patients: Prospective Cohort Study

OpenAIRE

Lamont, Elizabeth; Christakis, Nicholas

2000-01-01

Objective: To describe doctors' prognostic accuracy in terminally ill patients and to evaluate the determinants of that accuracy. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Five outpatient hospice programmes in Chicago. Participants: 343 doctors provided survival estimates for 468 terminally ill patients at the time of hospice referral. Main outcome measures: Patients' estimated and actual survival. Results: Median survival was 24 days. Only 20% (92/468) of predictions were acc...

Reducing Missed Opportunities for Influenza Vaccination in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Evaluation of a Multisystem Intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Broderick, Rachel; Ventura, Iazsmin; Soroosh, Sunoz; Franco, Lourdes; Giles, Jon T

2018-05-15

To assess a multimodal intervention for reducing missed opportunities for outpatient influenza vaccination in individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Patients with RA were enrolled from a single center and each rheumatology outpatient visit was tracked for missed opportunities for influenza vaccination, defined as a visit in which an unvaccinated patient without contraindications remained unvaccinated or lacked documentation of vaccine recommendation in the electronic medical record (EMR). Providers then received a multimodal intervention consisting of an education session, EMR alerts, and weekly provider-specific e-mail reminders. Missed opportunities before and after the intervention were compared, and the determinants of missed opportunities were analyzed. A total of 228 patients with RA were enrolled (904 preintervention visits) and 197 returned for at least 1 postintervention visit (721 postintervention visits). The preintervention frequency of any missed opportunities for influenza vaccination was 47%. This was reduced to 23% postintervention (p < 0.001). Among those vaccinated, the relative hazard for influenza vaccination post- versus pre- intervention period was 1.24 (p = 0.038). Younger age, less frequent office visits, higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and negative attitudes about vaccines were each independently associated with missed opportunities preintervention. Postintervention, these factors were no longer associated with missed opportunities; however, the intervention was not as effective in non-Hispanic black patients, non-English speakers, those residing outside of the New York City metropolitan area, and those reporting prior adverse reactions to vaccines. Improved uptake of influenza vaccination in patients with RA is possible using a multimodal approach. Certain subgroups may need a more potent intervention for equivalent efficacy.

Doctor-patient confidentiality - right and duty of a doctor in law regulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janusz Jaroszyński

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Physician’s professional secrecy is one of the most important duties of a doctor and should be provided with confidentiality regarding his or her health. Generally speaking, there is no legal definition of "physician’s professional secrecy" in Poland, although this concept already appears in the oath of Hippocrates: ‘I will keep secret anything I see or hear professionally which ought not to be told’. The issue of medical confidentiality (physician’s professional secrecy has been regulated in several legal acts such as: The Patient Rights and Patients Ombudsman Act, The Constitution of the Republic of Poland, The Medical Profession Act, The Civil Code Act, The Criminal Code Act and Code of Medical Ethics which is not considered as a legal act. The patient has the right to require confidentiality of the information concerning him and the obligation to keep medical confidentiality will apply to every representative of the medical profession, who obtained certain information by various professional activities.

Manipulation of prescriptions by patients - what must a doctor do?

Science.gov (United States)

DeSousa, Avinash

2016-01-01

Over-the-counter use of medication via chemists, including the use of psychiatric medication, has always been a cause of worry in the Indian subcontinent. Over the last two years, the rules on dispensing psychiatric medication have become stringent and chemists have to dispense the exact amount of medicine written on the prescription for the time duration mentioned. The chemist also stamps the prescription with the amount of medicine dispensed so that the patient does not use the prescription at another chemist's or counter to obtain more than the amount prescribed. This means that patients must follow up with the psychiatrist regularly, have themselves evaluated, and get a fresh prescription that must be signed by the doctor and also carry his seal. There are many patients who do not adhere to this rule. Many a time, chemists who have known a patient over the years tend to continue dispensing medication to the patient for durations which far exceed that prescribed by the doctor. This is rather dangerous as the patient may end up taking antidepressants, antipsychotics and sedatives for months or at times, years, without a valid prescription. They may also develop side-effects that could ensue under unsupervised consumption.

The association between number of doctors per bed and readmission of elderly patients with pneumonia in South Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Joo Eun; Kim, Tae Hyun; Cho, Kyoung Hee; Han, Kyu-Tae; Park, Eun-Cheol

2017-06-08

There is an urgent need to reduce readmission of patients with pneumonia and improve quality of care. To assess the association between hospital resources and quality of care, we examined the effect of number of doctors per bed on 30-day readmission and investigated the combined effect of number of doctors per bed and number of beds. We used nationwide cohort sample data of health insurance claims by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) from 2002 to 2013. Pneumonia admissions to acute care hospitals among 7446 inpatients older than 65 were examined. We conducted a multivariate Cox proportional hazard model to analyze the association between the number of doctors per bed and 30-day readmission, as well as that of pneumonia-specific 30-day readmission with the combined effects of number of doctors per bed and number of beds. Overall, 1421 (19.1%) patients were readmitted within 30 days and 756 (11.2%) patients were readmitted for pneumonia within 30 days. Patients with pneumonia treated by very low or low number of doctors per bed showed higher readmission (pneumonia-specific readmission: hazard ratio [HR] = 1. 406, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.072-1.843 for low number of doctors per bed; all-cause readmissions: HR = 1.276, 95% CI = 1.026-1.587 for very low number of doctors per bed, and HR = 1.280, 95% CI = 1.064-1.540 for low number of doctors per bed). This empirical study showed that patients with pneumonia cared for in hospitals with more doctors were less likely to be readmitted. Pneumonia-specific 30-day readmission was also significantly associated with the combined effect of the number of doctors and the number of hospital beds.

Anaphylaxis: lack of hospital doctors' knowledge of adrenaline (epinephrine) administration in adults could endanger patients' safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Droste, J; Narayan, N

2012-06-01

Adrenaline (epinephrine) is the first line drug to be given in anaphylaxis and can save patients' lives. Conversely, incorrect administration of adrenaline in anaphylaxis has caused patients serious harm, including death. We compared the survey results of doctors' knowledge of adrenaline administration in adults of two District General Hospitals Trusts in England and found, that from 284 Hospital Doctors, 14.4% (n = 41) would administer adrenaline as recommended by published anaphylaxis guidelines. This survey comparison shows that a significant number of hospital doctors, regardless of seniority and specialty, have an educational deficit regarding correct administration of adrenaline (epinephrine) administration in adults with anaphylaxis. Multilevel strategies to educate doctors and prevent patient harm are needed. We propose a mnemonic for remembering the recommended treatment for anaphylaxis in the adult: "A Thigh 500" forAdrenaline into the antero-lateral thigh, 500 micrograms.

[Doctor-Patient Relationship from the Perspective of Medical Students' Portfolio].

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Girela Pérez, Beatriz; Rodríguez Cano, María Araceli; Girela López, Eloy

2018-01-01

Doctor-patient relationship is of paramount importance for a good medical practice, however as long as medicine has been increasingly influenced by technology and science, it may be at risk of losing contact with basic human values of respect for the beliefs and preferences of the other person. In this study, we have analyzed the deontological vision of the physician-patient relationship perceived through clinical situations reflected in the portfolios carried out by 225 students of the 5th year of the Degree of Medicine at the University of Córdoba, during the courses 2014/15 and 2015/16. 201 out of 833 deontological considerations on articles of the Code of Medical Ethics constitute non-compliances. It is noteworthy that these breaches to the Code of Medical Ethics considered refer mainly (73%) to Chapter III (doctor-patient relationship). It is particularly interesting that the problems most frequently detected are those related to attitude, forms or language and lack of understanding/confidence of the physician with the patient (article 8 with 46 noncompliances), as well as problems in providing information (articles 12.1 and 15, with 18 and 42 noncompliances respectively).

Teaching About the Doctor-Patient Relationship in the First Postgraduate Year.

Science.gov (United States)

Sledge, William H.; And Others

1987-01-01

Introduction of a course on the doctor-patient relationship in the clinically demanding first postgraduate year encountered two problems: student perceptions that the content was not necessary or was too burdensome, and the tendency of residents to feel guilty or inadequate in patient relationships at that stage of training. (MSE)

[Murder of the doctor].

Science.gov (United States)

Lorettu, Liliana; Falchi, Lorenzo; Nivoli, Fabrizia L; Milia, Paolo; Nivoli, Giancarlo; Nivoli, Alessandra M

2015-01-01

To examine possible risk factors for the doctor to be killed by the patient in the clinical practice by examining a series of murders that involved physicians. This aim has been achieved through a retrospective review on clinical cases of doctors killed by patients within the period between 1988 and 2013, in Italy. In this period 18 Italian doctors have been killed in the workplace, with a rate of 0.3/100,000. In 7 cases, the murder resulted in the context of doctor-dissatisfaction; in 7 cases the murder was committed by a psychiatric patient; 1 case in the context of a stalking; 3 cases occurred in a workplace which was not safe enough. Four categories of at-risk contexts have been identified. One category includes a murder in the context of a doctor-dissatisfaction, perceived by patient. The second category concerns murders committed by patients suffering from mental illness. A third category includes homicides in a workplace which is not safe. The last category comprises the murder in the context of stalking. These categories identify specific dangerous situations for physicians, in which are highlighted elements that have played a crucial role in the murder and for which special precautions are suggested preventive.

A Study of Power Relations in Doctor-Patient Interactions in Selected Hospitals in Lagos State, Nigeria

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Adam, Qasim

2014-01-01

This paper explores power relations in clinical interactions in Nigeria. It seeks to investigate the use of power between doctors and patients during consultations on patient-centred approach to medicine in selected public and private hospitals in Lagos State, Nigeria. The objective is to establish how doctors' projection of power, using the…

Comparison of patient-reported need of psycho-oncologic support and the doctor's perspective: how do they relate to disease severity in melanoma patients?

Science.gov (United States)

Nolte, Sandra; van der Mei, Sicco H; Strehl-Schwarz, Kerstin; Köster, Johanna; Bender, Armin; Rose, Matthias; Kruse, Johannes; Peters, Eva M J

2016-11-01

Psycho-neuro-immune research suggests an association between cancer outcomes and psychosocial distress. Objective criteria to determine patients' levels of distress are important to establish potential links to disease outcomes. We compared three patient-reported with one doctor-reported measures of psycho-oncologic distress frequently used in routine cancer care and investigated associations with standard disease severity parameters in melanoma patients. We enrolled n = 361 patients, successively seen at two outpatient university clinics in Germany. In the naturalistic study, n = 222 patients had been diagnosed 180 days and were in after-care (Group II). Across groups, only moderate associations were seen between patient- reported and doctor-reported measures. Regarding clinical variables, disease severity and perceived need of psycho-oncologic support reported by patients or doctors showed hardly any association. After subgroup stratification, in patients of Group II, patient-reported and doctor-reported instruments showed some small associations with disease parameters commonly linked to more rapid cancer progression in patients who are in cancer after-care. Overall, the few and low associations suggest that need of psycho-oncologic support and clinical variables were largely independent of each other and doctors' perception may not reflect the patient's view. Therefore, the assessment of the patient perspective is indispensable to ensure that melanoma patients receive appropriate support, as such need cannot be derived from other disease parameters or proxy report. More research is needed applying psychometrically robust instruments that are ideally combined with sensitive biomarkers to disentangle psycho-neuro-immune implications in melanoma patients. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Knowledge of Consequences of missing teeth in patients attending ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

There was no significant difference between the knowledge of the consequences of missing teeth and sex or on level of education (p 0.05). Dentists constituted the largest source of information to these patients (25.6%) while the media constituted the least (0.5%). Conclusion: The result of this study showed poor knowledge ...

Do doctors' attachment styles and emotional intelligence influence patients' emotional expressions in primary care consultations? An exploratory study using multilevel analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Cherry, M Gemma; Fletcher, Ian; Berridge, Damon; O'Sullivan, Helen

2018-04-01

To investigate whether and how doctors' attachment styles and emotional intelligence (EI) might influence patients' emotional expressions in general practice consultations. Video recordings of 26 junior doctors consulting with 173 patients were coded using the Verona Coding Definition of Emotional Sequences (VR-CoDES). Doctors' attachment style was scored across two dimensions, avoidance and anxiety, using the Experiences in Close Relationships: Short Form questionnaire. EI was assessed with the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test. Multilevel Poisson regressions modelled the probability of patients' expressing emotional distress, considering doctors' attachment styles and EI and demographic and contextual factors. Both attachment styles and EI were significantly associated with frequency of patients' cues, with patient- and doctor-level explanatory variables accounting for 42% of the variance in patients' cues. The relative contribution of attachment styles and EI varied depending on whether patients' presenting complaints were physical or psychosocial in nature. Doctors' attachment styles and levels of EI are associated with patients' emotional expressions in primary care consultations. Further research is needed to investigate how these two variables interact and influence provider responses and patient outcomes. Understanding how doctors' psychological characteristics influence PPC may help to optimise undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Doctor patient communication: which skills are effective?].

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Philippa; Gómez, Gricelda; Kurtz, Suzanne; Vargas, Alex

2010-08-01

Effective Communication Skills form part of what is being a good doctor. There is a solid evidence base that defines the components of effective communication. This article offers a practical conceptual framework to improve physician patient communication to a professional level of competence. There are six goals that physicians and patients work to achieve through their communication with each other. These are to construct a relationship, structure an interview, start the interview, gather information, explain, plan and close the interview. The outcomes that can be improved with an effective communication and the "first principles" of communication are described. A brief look at the historical context that has influenced our thinking about communication in health care is carried out. Finally, the Calgary Cambridge Guide, an approach for delineating and organizing the specific skills required of an effective communication with patients is described. It is clear from the literature that better communication skills improve patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes.

[The essence of doctor-patient relationship in creating image of a medical institution].

Science.gov (United States)

Dworzański, Wojciech; Dworzańska, Anna; Burdan, Franciszek

2012-01-01

Irrespective of changing standards and continuous reforms in health service, the patient should always remain the principal focus. The patient is a person who should be treated not only as a customer or a recipient of medical services but also as a person being in a situation which is difficult and often unacceptable. Among the factors affecting patients' satisfaction and contentment in the course of the disease it is profoundly important that he cooperates with his doctor. For years it has been attempted to create an ideal model of doctor-patient relationship which would be mutually beneficial and not violating privacy or welfare of any of them. These attempts focused on various theoretical models, among others paternalistic, informative and interpretive. However, special attention should be paid to adherence to principles which is based on respect for patient autonomy, harmlessness, charity and fairness.

Intolerance and Violence Against Doctors.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Meharban

2017-10-01

Intolerance and grouse against doctors is a global phenomenon but India seems to lead the world in violence against doctors. According to World Health Organization, about 8-38% healthcare workers suffer physical violence at some point in their careers. Many more are verbally abused or threatened. Public is almost behaving like health sector terrorists. The spate of increasing attacks on doctors by damaging their property and causing physical injury is not acceptable by any civilized society. The public is becoming increasingly intolerant to a large number of social issues because of poor governance and vote bank politics. There is a need to arrest the development of further distrust between doctors and their patients/relatives, otherwise it will compromise all achievements of medical science and adversely affect healing capabilities of doctors. Rude and aggressive behavior of the patients or their family members, and arrogant and lackadaisical approach of the doctor, adversely affects the doctor-patient relationship and the outcome of the patient. The doctors, hospital administration and government must exercise "zero tolerance" with respect to acts of violence against healthcare professionals. It is possible to reduce the incidence of intolerance against doctors but difficult to eliminate it completely. The healthcare providers should demonstrate greater compassion and empathy with improved communication skills. The hospitals must have adequate infrastructure, facilities and staff to handle emergencies without delay and with due confidence and skills. The security of healthcare providers, especially in sensitive areas, should be improved by having adequate number of security guards, frisking facilities, extensive CCTV network and availability of "Quick response team" to handle unruly mob. In case of any grievances for alleged mismanagement, the public should handle the situation in a civilized manner and seek redressal through Medical Protection Act and legal

Characteristics of patients with missing information on stage: a population-based study of patients diagnosed with colon, lung or breast cancer in England in 2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Di Girolamo, Chiara; Walters, Sarah; Benitez Majano, Sara; Rachet, Bernard; Coleman, Michel P; Njagi, Edmund Njeru; Morris, Melanie

2018-05-02

Stage is a key predictor of cancer survival. Complete cancer staging is vital for understanding outcomes at population level and monitoring the efficacy of early diagnosis initiatives. Cancer registries usually collect details of the disease extent but staging information may be missing because a stage was never assigned to a patient or because it was not included in cancer registration records. Missing stage information introduce methodological difficulties for analysis and interpretation of results. We describe the associations between missing stage and socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of patients diagnosed with colon, lung or breast cancer in England in 2013. We assess how these associations change when completeness is high, and administrative issues are assumed to be minimal. We estimate the amount of avoidable missing stage data if high levels of completeness reached by some Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), were achieved nationally. Individual cancer records were retrieved from the National Cancer Registration and linked to the Routes to Diagnosis and Hospital Episode Statistics datasets to obtain additional clinical information. We used multivariable beta binomial regression models to estimate the strength of the association between socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of patients and missing stage and to derive the amount of avoidable missing stage. Multivariable modelling showed that old age was associated with missing stage irrespective of the cancer site and independent of comorbidity score, short-term mortality and patient characteristics. This remained true for patients in the CCGs with high completeness. Applying the results from these CCGs to the whole cohort showed that approximately 70% of missing stage information was potentially avoidable. Missing stage was more frequent in older patients, including those residing in CCGs with high completeness. This disadvantage for older patients was not explained fully by the

Doctors and pharmaceutical industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Beran, Roy G

2009-09-01

The pharmaceutical industry is seen as seducing doctors by providing expensive gifts, subsidising travel and underwriting practice expenses in return for those doctors prescribing products that otherwise they would not use. This paints doctors in a very negative light; suggests doctors are available to the highest bidder; implies doctors do not adequately act as independent agents; and that doctors are driven more by self-interest than by patient needs. Similar practices, in other industries, are accepted as normal business behaviour but it is automatically assumed to be improper if the pharmaceutical industry supports doctors. Should the pharmaceutical industry withdraw educational grants then there would be: fewer scientific meetings; reduced attendance at conferences; limited post graduate education; and a depreciated level of maintenance of professional standards. To suggest that doctors prescribe inappropriately in return for largesse maligns their integrity but where there is no scientific reason to choose between different treatments then there can be little argument against selecting the product manufactured by a company that has invested in the doctor and the question arises as to whether this represents bad medicine? This paper will examine what constitutes non-professional conduct in response to inducements by the pharmaceutical industry. It will review: conflict of interest; relationships between doctors and pharma and the consequences for patients; and the need for critical appraisal before automatically decrying this relationship while accepting that there remain those who do not practice ethical medicine.

Power imbalance and consumerism in the doctor-patient relationship: health care providers' experiences of patient encounters in a rural district in India.

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Fochsen, Grethe; Deshpande, Kirti; Thorson, Anna

2006-11-01

The aim of this study is to explore health care providers' experiences and perceptions of their encounters with male and female patients in a rural district in India with special reference to tuberculosis (TB) care. The authors conducted semistructured interviews with 22 health care providers, 17 men and 5 women, from the public and private health care sectors. Findings reveal that doctors adopted an authoritarian as well as a consumerist approach in the medical encounter, indicating that power imbalances in the doctor-patient relationship are negotiable and subject to change. Gender was identified as an influencing factor of the doctor's dominance. A patient-centered approach, acknowledging patients' own experiences and shared decision making, is called for and should be included in TB control activities. This seems to be especially important for female patients, whose voices were not heard in the medical encounter.

[Crossed perceptions about malnutrition in patients and their doctors in oncology].

Science.gov (United States)

Raynard, Bruno; Hébuterne, Xavier; Goldwasser, François; Ait Hssain, Ali; Dubray Longeras, Pascale; Barthélémy, Philippe; Rosso, Edoardo; Phoutthasang, Valérie; Bories, Camille; Digue, Laurence; Laharie, David; Desport, Jean-Claude; Falkowski, Sabrina; Lacau Saint Guily, Jean; Gyan, Emmanuel

2017-11-01

Malnutrition is common in oncology. However, it is often detected too late and nutritional support is sub-optimal. The patient's opinion, although often sought in therapeutic decisions in oncology, does not appear to be frequently taken into account in dietetic management. In NutriCancer2012 study, we interviewed patients, relatives and doctors about their perceptions of the impact of malnutrition and its quality of care. Of the 2209 patients questioned, majority said they were concerned about nutrition with 75% considering it essential to take appropriate nutritional care but only 19% self-reported link between malnutrition and fatigue. Physicians underestimated impact of malnutrition on patient's "quality of life". Doctors referred to the lack of human resources and knowledge in nutrition, and more than 80% wished the creation of nutrition teams. Sensitization of the general public and patients (and relatives) as soon as the cancer diagnosis could lead to better malnutrition's screening. Better nutrition training for physicians and creation of nutrition team could optimize management and improve efficacy during cancer treatments. Copyright © 2017 Société Française du Cancer. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Equipping tomorrow's doctors for the patients of today.

Science.gov (United States)

Oakley, Rachel; Pattinson, Joanne; Goldberg, Sarah; Daunt, Laura; Samra, Rajvinder; Masud, Tahir; Gladman, John R F; Blundell, Adrian G; Gordon, Adam L

2014-07-01

As the proportion of older patients with frailty presenting to health services increases, so does the need for doctors to be adequately trained to meet their needs. The presentations seen in such patients, the evidence-based models of care and skillsets required to deliver them are different than for younger patient groups-so specific training is required. Several research programmes have used detailed and explicit methods to establish evidence-based expert-validated curricula outlining learning outcomes for undergraduates in geriatric medicine-there is now broad-consensus on what newly qualified doctors need to know. There are, despite this, shortcomings in the teaching of undergraduates about geriatric medicine. National and international surveys from the UK, EU, USA, Canada, Austria and the Netherlands have all shown shortcomings in the content and amount of undergraduate teaching. Mechanisms to improve this situation, aside from specifying curricula, include developing academic departments and professorships in geriatric medicine, providing grants to develop teaching in geriatric medicine and developing novel teaching interventions to make the best of existing resources. Under the last of these headings, innovations have been shown to improve outcomes by: using technology to ensure the most effective allocation of teaching time and resources; using inter-professional education as a means of improving attitudes towards care of older patients; focusing teaching specifically on attitudes towards older patients and those who work with them; and trying to engage patients in teaching. Research areas going forward include how to incentivise medical schools to deliver specified curricula, how to choose from an ever-expanding array of teaching technologies, how to implement interprofessional education in a sustainable way and how to design teaching interventions using a qualitative understanding of attitudes towards older patients and the teams that care for them. �

Differences in antibiotic use between patients with and without a regular doctor in Hong Kong.

Science.gov (United States)

Lam, Tai Pong; Wun, Yuk Tsan; Lam, Kwok Fai; Sun, Kai Sing

2015-12-15

Literature shows that continuity of care from a primary care physician is associated with better patient satisfaction and preventive care. This may also have an effect on patients' use of antibiotics. This study investigated the differences in antibiotic use between patients with and without a regular doctor in a pluralistic health care system. A cross-sectional telephone questionnaire survey using randomly selected household phone numbers was conducted in Hong Kong. Several key areas about antibiotic use were compared between the respondents with a regular doctor and those without. The response rate was 68.3 %. Of the 2,471 respondents, 1,450 (58.7 %) had a regular doctor, 942 (38.1 %) without, and 79 (3.2 %) did not give a clear answer. The respondents with a regular doctor were more likely to report that they always finished the full course of antibiotics (74.2 % vs 62.4 %), as well as using antibiotics for their last upper respiratory tract infections (17.4 % vs 10.1 %). The association with antibiotic use remained significant in the multivariable logistic regression analysis after adjusting for other confounding factors (P antibiotics, they also had nearly twice the chance of reporting antibiotic use for upper respiratory tract infections. This challenges the common belief of the benefits in having a regular doctor.

A patient with protrusion and multiple missing teeth treated with autotransplantation and space closure.

Science.gov (United States)

Ko, Jeong-Min; Paik, Cheol-Ho; Choi, Simon; Baek, Seung-Hak

2014-05-01

To present a patient treated with submerging autotransplantation (SA) of an immature premolar and subsequent orthodontic space closure (OSC) and to report a 10-year follow-up result. A 10-year-old boy had multiple missing premolars with an asymmetric pattern (maxillary right first and second premolars, teeth 14 and 15; maxillary left second premolar, tooth 25; and mandibular right second premolar, tooth 45). After considering several treatment options, tooth 35 with immature root development underwent SA into the missing site of tooth 15 at a depth 5 mm below the occlusal plane and was stabilized with sutures to create a symmetric missing condition of the premolars in the four quadrants. Three months after autotransplantation, spontaneous eruption of the transplanted tooth was observed. Nine months after autotransplantation, presence of the lamina dura of the transplanted tooth was confirmed with a periapical radiograph. Active orthodontic treatment was initiated to reduce lip protrusion by closing the missing spaces of teeth 14, 25, 35, and 45 and to correct dental midline deviation. After 33 months of active orthodontic treatment, Class I canine and molar relationships were obtained. During the 10-year follow-up, the pulp vitality of the transplanted tooth was maintained without any pathologic findings, including root resorption or pulp canal obliteration. In a patient with lip protrusion and multiple congenitally missing premolars with an asymmetric pattern, SA of one premolar from the normal quadrant into the quadrant missing two premolars with subsequent OSC of the missing sites of the other premolars can be an effective treatment modality.

A systematic review and development of a classification framework for factors associated with missing patient-reported outcome data.

Science.gov (United States)

Palmer, Michael J; Mercieca-Bebber, Rebecca; King, Madeleine; Calvert, Melanie; Richardson, Harriet; Brundage, Michael

2018-02-01

Missing patient-reported outcome data can lead to biased results, to loss of power to detect between-treatment differences, and to research waste. Awareness of factors may help researchers reduce missing patient-reported outcome data through study design and trial processes. The aim was to construct a Classification Framework of factors associated with missing patient-reported outcome data in the context of comparative studies. The first step in this process was informed by a systematic review. Two databases (MEDLINE and CINAHL) were searched from inception to March 2015 for English articles. Inclusion criteria were (a) relevant to patient-reported outcomes, (b) discussed missing data or compliance in prospective medical studies, and (c) examined predictors or causes of missing data, including reasons identified in actual trial datasets and reported on cover sheets. Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts. Discrepancies were discussed with the research team prior to finalizing the list of eligible papers. In completing the systematic review, four particular challenges to synthesizing the extracted information were identified. To address these challenges, operational principles were established by consensus to guide the development of the Classification Framework. A total of 6027 records were screened. In all, 100 papers were eligible and included in the review. Of these, 57% focused on cancer, 23% did not specify disease, and 20% reported for patients with a variety of non-cancer conditions. In total, 40% of the papers offered a descriptive analysis of possible factors associated with missing data, but some papers used other methods. In total, 663 excerpts of text (units), each describing a factor associated with missing patient-reported outcome data, were extracted verbatim. Redundant units were identified and sequestered. Similar units were grouped, and an iterative process of consensus among the investigators was used to reduce these units to a

Bladder injuries frequently missed in polytrauma patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tanweer Karim

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Tanweer Karim, Margaret Topno, Vinod Sharma, Raymond Picardo, Ankur HastirSurgery, MGM Medical College, Kamothe, Navi Mumbai, IndiaAbstract: Bladder injuries are very common in patients who have had road traffic accidents. The method of diagnosis and management of such injuries is well established and accepted. However, trauma to the bladder can be associated with other life-threatening injuries which are frequently missed, and often diagnosed during laparotomy for other reasons. The aim of this study was to diagnose bladder injury in polytrauma patients as early as possible, taking into consideration the fact that these patients are hemodynamically unstable and require rapid evaluation and management. In order to achieve our objective, we used bedside sonography with retrograde instillation of normal saline to diagnose bladder injury in addition to use of the conventional retrograde cystogram.Keywords: bladder injury, bladder rupture, retrograde cystogram

The Norwegian National Summary Care Record: a qualitative analysis of doctors' use of and trust in shared patient information.

Science.gov (United States)

Dyb, Kari; Warth, Line Lundvoll

2018-04-06

This paper explores Norwegian doctors' use of and experiences with a national tool for sharing core patient health information. The summary care record (SCR; the Kjernejournal in Norwegian) is the first national system for sharing patient information among the various levels and institutions of health care throughout the country. The health authorities have invested heavily in the development, implementation and deployment of this tool, and as of 2017 all Norwegian citizens have a personalised SCR. However, as there remains limited knowledge about health professionals' use of, experiences with and opinions regarding this new tool, the purpose of this study was to explore doctors' direct SCR experiences. We conducted 25 in-depth interviews with 10 doctors from an emergency ward, 5 doctors from an emergency clinic and 10 doctors from 5 general practitioner offices. We then transcribed, thematically coded and analysed the interviews utilising a grounded theory approach. The SCRs contain several features for providing core patient information that is particularly relevant in acute or emergency situations; nonetheless, we found that the doctors generally used only one of the tool's six functions, namely, the pharmaceutical summary. In addition, they primarily used this summary for a few subgroups of patients, including in the emergency ward for unconscious patients, for elderly patients with multiple prescriptions and for patients with substance abuse conditions. The primary difference of the pharmaceutical summary compared with the other functions of the tool is that patient information is automatically updated from a national pharmaceutical server, while other clinically relevant functions, like the critical information category, require manual updates by the health professionals themselves, thereby potentially causing variations in the accuracy, completeness and trustworthiness of the data. Therefore, we can assume that the popularity of the pharmaceutical summary

Intercultural doctor-patient communication in daily outpatient care: relevant communication skills

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Paternotte, E.; Scheele, F.; Seeleman, C.M.; Bank, L.; Scherpbier, A.J.; Dulmen, S. van

2016-01-01

INTRODUCTION: Intercultural communication (ICC) between doctors and patients is often associated with misunderstandings and dissatisfaction. To develop ICC-specific medical education, it is important to find out which ICC skills medical specialists currently apply in daily clinical consultations.

A prospective evaluation of missed injuries in trauma patients, before and after formalising the trauma tertiary survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Keijzers, Gerben B; Campbell, Don; Hooper, Jeffrey; Bost, Nerolie; Crilly, Julia; Steele, Michael Craig; Del Mar, Chris; Geeraedts, Leo M G

2014-01-01

This study prospectively evaluated in-hospital and postdischarge missed injury rates in admitted trauma patients, before and after the formalisation of a trauma tertiary survey (TTS) procedure. Prospective before-and-after cohort study. TTS were formalised in a single regional level II trauma hospital in November 2009. All multitrauma patients admitted between March-October 2009 (preformalisation of TTS) and December 2009-September 2010 (post-) were assessed for missed injury, classified into three types: Type I, in-hospital, (injury missed at initial assessment, detected within 24 h); Type II, in-hospital (detected in hospital after 24 h, missed at initial assessment and by TTS); Type III, postdischarge (detected after hospital discharge). Secondary outcome measures included TTS performance rates and functional outcomes at 1 and 6 months. A total of 487 trauma patients were included (pre-: n = 235; post-: n = 252). In-hospital missed injury rate (Types I and II combined) was similar for both groups (3.8 vs. 4.8 %, P = 0.61), as were postdischarge missed injury rates (Type III) at 1 month (13.7 vs. 11.5 %, P = 0.43), and 6 months (3.8 vs. 3.3 %, P = 0.84) after discharge. TTS performance was substantially higher in the post-group (27 vs. 42 %, P cumulative missed injury rates >15 %. Some of these injuries were clinically relevant. Although TTS performance was significantly improved by formalising the process (from 27 to 42 %), this did not decrease missed injury rates.

A geriatric assessment in general practice: prevalence, location, impact and doctor-patient perceptions of pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Kruschinski, Carsten; Wiese, Birgitt; Dierks, Marie-Luise; Hummers-Pradier, Eva; Schneider, Nils; Junius-Walker, Ulrike

2016-01-28

To investigate what a geriatric assessment in general practice adds towards previous findings of prevalence, location, impact and the dyadic doctor-patient perception of pain in this age group. Cross-sectional study. Consecutive patients aged 70 and over underwent a comprehensive geriatric assessment in general practice that included a basic pain assessment (severity, sites and impact). Patients with pain and their doctors then independently rated its importance. Pain was correlated with further findings from the assessment, such as overall health, physical impairments, everyday function, falls, mood, health related lifestyle, social circumstances, using bivariate and multivariate statistics. Patient-doctor agreement on the importance of pain was calculated using kappa statistics. 219 out of 297 patients (73.7 %) reported pain at any location. Pain was generally located at multiple sites. It was most often present at the knee (33.9%), the lumbar spine (33.5%) as well as the hip (13.8%) and correlated with specific impairments such as restrictions of daily living (knee) or sleep problems (spine). Patients with pain and their physicians poorly agreed on the importance of the pain problem. A basic pain assessment can identify older patients with pain in general practice. It has resulted in a high prevalence exceeding that determined by encounters in consultations. It has been shown that a geriatric assessment provides an opportunity to address pain in a way that is adapted to older patients' needs - addressing all sites, its specific impact on life, and the patients' perceived importance of pain. Since there is little doctor-patient agreement, this seems a valuable strategy to optimize concrete treatment decisions and patient centered care. This study is registered in the German Clinical Trial Register ( DRKS00000792 ).

Intercultural doctor-patient communication in daily outpatient care: relevant communication skills.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Paternotte, E.; Scheele, F.; Seeleman, C.M.; Bank, L.; Scherpbier, A.J.J.A.; Dulmen, A.M. van

2016-01-01

Introduction Intercultural communication (ICC) between doctors and patients is often associated with misunderstandings and dissatisfaction. To develop ICC-specific medical education, it is important to find out which ICC skills medical specialists currently apply in daily clinical

Comparative cross-sectional study of masticatory performance and mastication predominance for patients with missing posterior teeth.

Science.gov (United States)

Iwashita, Hayato; Tsukiyama, Yoshihiro; Kori, Hidehiro; Kuwatsuru, Rika; Yamasaki, Yo; Koyano, Kiyoshi

2014-10-01

Missing posterior teeth can decrease masticatory function and cause horizontal mastication deviation, i.e., mastication predominance. Mastication predominance may lead to abnormal tooth attrition and temporomandibular disorders. This study evaluated masticatory performance and mastication predominance in patients with missing posterior teeth to investigate effects of missing posterior teeth on masticatory performance and mastication predominance. Thirty volunteers with normal dentition (control group), 30 patients with unilateral missing posterior teeth (unilateral group), and 23 patients with bilateral missing posterior teeth (bilateral group) participated. Gummy jellies were used to evaluate participants' masticatory performance, and electromyography was used to assess the degree of mastication predominance. Chewing gums, gummy jellies, and peanuts were used as foods of various hardnesses for evaluating mastication predominance. Compared with the control group, masticatory performance did not differ in the unilateral group but was significantly decreased in the bilateral group. With chewing gum and gummy jellies, the degree of mastication predominance was significantly increased in both unilateral and bilateral groups than the control group. With peanuts, the degree of mastication predominance was significantly increased in the unilateral group than the control group. Although masticatory performance was not decreased in the unilateral group, the degree of mastication predominance was increased. Decreased masticatory performance was observed in the bilateral group, and for foods with normal hardness and soft foods, the degree of mastication predominance was increased. These results suggested that mastication predominance should be considered in the recovery of masticatory performance in patients with missing posterior teeth. Copyright © 2014 Japan Prosthodontic Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

"Why Do They Need to Check Me?" Patient Participation Through eHealth and the Doctor-Patient Relationship: Qualitative Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Grünloh, Christiane; Myreteg, Gunilla; Cajander, Åsa; Rexhepi, Hanife

2018-01-15

Roles in the doctor-patient relationship are changing and patient participation in health care is increasingly emphasized. Electronic health (eHealth) services such as patient accessible electronic health records (PAEHRs) have been implemented to support patient participation. Little is known about practical use of PAEHR and its effect on roles of doctors and patients. This qualitative study aimed to investigate how physicians view the idea of patient participation, in particular in relation to the PAEHR system. Hereby, the paper aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of physicians' constructions of PAEHR, roles in the doctor-patient relationship, and levels and limits of involvement. A total of 12 semistructured interviews were conducted with physicians in different fields. Interviews were transcribed, translated, and a theoretically informed thematic analysis was performed. Two important aspects were identified that are related to the doctor-patient relationship: roles and involvement. The physicians viewed their role as being the ones to take on the responsibility, determining treatment options, and to be someone who should be trusted. In relation to the patient's role, lack of skills (technical or regarding medical jargon), motives to read, and patients' characteristics were aspects identified in the interviews. Patients were often referred to as static entities disregarding their potential to develop skills and knowledge over time. Involvement captures aspects that support or hinder patients to take an active role in their care. Literature of at least two decades suggests an overall agreement that the paternalistic approach in health care is inappropriate, and a collaborative process with patients should be adopted. Although the physicians in this study stated that they, in principle, were in favor of patient participation, the analysis found little support in their descriptions of their daily practice that participation is actualized. As seen from the

Incidence of missed inferior alveolar nerve blocks in vital asymptomatic subjects and in patients with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis.

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Fowler, Sara; Reader, Al; Beck, Mike

2015-05-01

The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the incidence of missed inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) blocks by using a 1- or 2-cartridge volume of 2% lidocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine in vital asymptomatic teeth and in emergency patients with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis. As part of 37 studies, 3169 subjects/patients were evaluated for missed IAN blocks. The study included 2450 asymptomatic subjects and 719 emergency patients presenting with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis. Each subject or patient received either a 1- or 2-cartridge volume of 2% lidocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine. A missed block was defined as no lip numbness at 15-20 minutes after the IAN block. The effect of anesthetic volume on the incidence of missed blocks was assessed by using mixed models logistic regression with individual studies as a random effect. The incidence of missed blocks for asymptomatic subjects was 6.3% for the 1-cartridge volume and 3.8% for the 2-cartridge volume. For patients presenting with irreversible pulpitis, the incidence of missed blocks was 7.7% for the 1-cartridge volume and 2.3% for the 2-cartridge volume. In both asymptomatic subjects and patients with irreversible pulpitis, the 2-cartridge volume was significantly (P = .0395) better than the 1-cartridge volume. There were no significant effects for pulpal diagnosis (P = .7523) or the pulpal diagnosis and anesthetic volume interaction (P = .3973). Concerning missed IAN blocks, we concluded that administration of a 2-cartridge volume was significantly better (P = .0395) than a 1-cartridge volume in both asymptomatic subjects and emergency patients presenting with irreversible pulpitis. Copyright © 2015 American Association of Endodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Patient Satisfaction in Chamber Setting in Bangladesh measured by Patient-Doctor Relationship Questionnaire (PDRQ-9 Bangla)

OpenAIRE

Arafat, S.; Andalib, A.; Shams, S.; Kabir, R.; Shah, M.; Fariduzzaman, A.; Liton, M.; Ansary, E.

2017-01-01

Abstract Background: Assessment of patient satisfaction is crucial but there is significant lagging in this sector. Patient satisfaction is an important indicator of health care quality as well as a predictor of treatment adherence. The Good patient-doctor relationship is considered as an integral part of the patient satisfaction. In Bangladesh, this domain is yet to be explored in a large scale. Aim: It was aimed to look into the patient satisfaction level in chamber setting in Bangl...

Patients' need for information provision and perceived participation in decision making in doctor-patient consultation: Micro-cultural differences between French- and Italian-speaking Switzerland.

Science.gov (United States)

Camerini, Anne-Linda; Schulz, Peter J

2016-03-01

To explore micro-cultural differences in patients' need for information provision, perceived participation in decision making, and related concepts during the doctor-patient consultation between French- and Italian-speaking patients in Switzerland. In 2012, 153 French- and 120 Italian-speaking patients with chronic low back pain (cLBP) were surveyed on their need for information provision, perceived participation in decision making, cLBP knowledge, psychological empowerment, and trust in their doctor. T-tests and regression analyses with interaction terms were performed. Results show that French- and Italian-speaking patients significantly differed in their participation in decision making, with French-speaking patients reporting higher involvement. Need for information provision was related to empowerment among French- and to trust among Italian-speaking patients. For participation in decision making, trust was the only related concept among French-, and cLBP knowledge among Italian-speaking patients. Significant interaction terms indicate a moderation of micro-cultural background. Findings point towards differences in the relationships between individual patient characteristics (i.e. knowledge, empowerment) and relational doctor-patient characteristics (i.e. trust) and patients' need for information provision and participation in decision making between French- and Italian-speaking patients in Switzerland. Doctors should be aware of these differences when dealing with patients of different micro-cultural backgrounds. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Barriers to Effective Doctor-Patient Relationship Based on PRECEDE PROCEED Model

Science.gov (United States)

Ghaffarifar, Saeideh; Ghofranipour, Fazlollah; Ahmadi, Fazlollah; Khoshbaten, Manouchehr

2015-01-01

Objective: This study intends to investigate interns and faculty members’ insights into constructing relationship between physicians and patients at 3 more accredited Iranian universities of medical sciences. Method: Applying PRECEDE PROCEED model, semi-structured interviews were completed with 7 interns and 14 faculty members and two themes were emerged from directed content analysis. The meaning units of the first theme, barriers to effective doctor-patient relationship, are discussed in this paper. Results: According to the participants, building doctor-patient relationship is influenced by many contextual and regulatory factors as well as content, process and perceptual skills of physicians. Conclusions: Faculty and curriculum development, as well as foundation of the department of communication skills at medical schools are recommended to eliminate the impact of poor communication on patients’ satisfaction and physicians’ self-efficacy specific to their communication skills. Practice Implications: Applying theories and models of health education and health promotion, researchers and educators can use the most predictive constructs of theories to design and implement effective interventions. PMID:26153160

Differences in simulated doctor and patient medical decision making: a construal level perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Jiaxi; He, Fei; Zhang, Yan; Liu, Quanhui; Miao, Danmin; Xiao, Wei

2013-01-01

Patients are often confronted with diverse medical decisions. Often lacking relevant medical knowledge, patients fail to independently make medical decisions and instead generally rely on the advice of doctors. This study investigated the characteristics of and differences in doctor-patient medical decision making on the basis of construal level theory. A total of 420 undergraduates majoring in clinical medicine were randomly assigned to six groups. Their decisions to opt for radiotherapy and surgery were investigated, with the choices described in a positive/neutral/negative frame × decision making for self/others. Compared with participants giving medical advice to patients, participants deciding for themselves were more likely to select radiotherapy (F1, 404 = 13.92, p = 011). Participants from positive or neutral frames exhibited a higher tendency to choose surgery than did those from negative frames (F2, 404 = 22.53, pframing on independent decision making was nonsignificant (F2, 404 = 1.07, p = 35); however the effect of framing on the provision of advice to patients was significant (F2, 404 = 12.95, pframe (F1, 404 = 8.06, p = 005) and marginally significant in the neutral frame (F2, 404 = 3.31, p = 07) but nonsignificant in the negative frame (F2, 404 = .29, p = 59). Both social distance and framing depiction significantly affected medical decision making and exhibited a significant interaction. Differences in medical decision making between doctors and patients need further investigation.

Antibiotic treatment failure when consulting patients with respiratory tract infections in general practice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bordado Sköld, Margrethe; Aabenhus, Rune; Guassora, Ann Dorrit

2017-01-01

as cases of antibiotic treatment failure (ATF). Objectives: We studied antibiotic treatment failure in patients with acute RTIs from a general practitioner (GP) perspective, aiming to explore (i) GPs’ views of ATF in primary care; (ii) how ATF influences the doctor-patient relationship; and (iii) GPs....... GPs used many communicative tools to maintain trust with patients in cases of ATF, but they did not consider such incidents to affect the doctor-patient relationship adversely. Conclusion: These findings suggest a possible communication gap between doctors and patients, partly due to a narrow medical...... definition of ATF. Studies describing patients’ views are still missing. General practitioners’ experiences and views on antibiotic treatment failure in acute respiratory infections or its effects on the doctor–patient relationship have not been studied previously....

The social negotiation of fitness for work: tensions in doctor-patient relationships over medical certification of chronic pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Wainwright, Elaine; Wainwright, David; Keogh, Edmund; Eccleston, Christopher

2015-01-01

The UK government is promoting the health benefits of work, in order to change doctors' and patients' behaviour and reduce sickness absence. The rationale is that many people 'off sick' would have better outcomes by staying at work; but reducing the costs of health care and benefits is also an imperative. Replacement of the 'sick note' with the 'fit note' and a national educational programme are intended to reduce sickness-certification rates, but how will these initiatives impact on doctor-patient relationships and the existing tension between the doctor as patient advocate and gate-keeper to services and benefits? This tension is particularly acute for problems like chronic pain where diagnosis, prognosis and work capacity can be unclear. We interviewed 13 doctors and 30 chronic pain patients about their experiences of negotiating medical certification for work absence and their views of the new policies. Our findings highlight the limitations of naïve rationalist approaches to judgements of work absence and fitness for work for people with chronic pain. Moral, socio-cultural and practical factors are invoked by doctors and patients to contest decisions, and although both groups support the fit note's focus on capacity, they doubt it will overcome tensions in the consultation. Doctors value tacit skills of persuasion and negotiation that can change how patients conceptualise their illness and respond to it. Policy-makers increasingly recognise the role of this tacit knowledge and we conclude that sick-listing can be improved by further developing these skills and acknowledging the structural context within which protagonists negotiate sick-listing. © The Author(s) 2014.

Synthesis of qualitative linguistic research--a pilot review integrating and generalizing findings on doctor-patient interaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Nowak, Peter

2011-03-01

There is a broad range qualitative linguistic research (sequential analysis) on doctor-patient interaction that had only a marginal impact on clinical research and practice. At least in parts this is due to the lack of qualitative research synthesis in the field. Available research summaries are not systematic in their methodology. This paper proposes a synthesis methodology for qualitative, sequential analytic research on doctor-patient interaction. The presented methodology is not new but specifies standard methodology of qualitative research synthesis for sequential analytic research. This pilot review synthesizes twelve studies on German-speaking doctor-patient interactions, identifies 45 verbal actions of doctors and structures them in a systematics of eight interaction components. Three interaction components ("Listening", "Asking for information", and "Giving information") seem to be central and cover two thirds of the identified action types. This pilot review demonstrates that sequential analytic research can be synthesized in a consistent and meaningful way, thus providing a more comprehensive and unbiased integration of research. Future synthesis of qualitative research in the area of health communication research is very much needed. Qualitative research synthesis can support the development of quantitative research and of educational materials in medical training and patient training. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Patient Continued Use of Online Health Care Communities: Web Mining of Patient-Doctor Communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Bing

2018-04-16

In practice, online health communities have passed the adoption stage and reached the diffusion phase of development. In this phase, patients equipped with knowledge regarding the issues involved in health care are capable of switching between different communities to maximize their online health community activities. Online health communities employ doctors to answer patient questions, and high quality online health communities are more likely to be acknowledged by patients. Therefore, the factors that motivate patients to maintain ongoing relationships with online health communities must be addressed. However, this has received limited scholarly attention. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that drive patients to continue their use of online health communities where doctor-patient communication occurs. This was achieved by integrating the information system success model with online health community features. A Web spider was used to download and extract data from one of the most authoritative Chinese online health communities in which communication occurs between doctors and patients. The time span analyzed in this study was from January 2017 to March 2017. A sample of 469 valid anonymous patients with 9667 posts was obtained (the equivalent of 469 respondents in survey research). A combination of Web mining and structural equation modeling was then conducted to test the research hypotheses. The results show that the research framework for integrating the information system success model and online health community features contributes to our understanding of the factors that drive patients' relationships with online health communities. The primary findings are as follows: (1) perceived usefulness is found to be significantly determined by three exogenous variables (ie, social support, information quality, and service quality; R 2 =0.88). These variables explain 87.6% of the variance in perceived usefulness of online health communities; (2

Accounting for psychotropic medication changes in prisons: patient and doctor perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Hassan, Lamiece; Edge, Dawn; Senior, Jane; Shaw, Jenny

2015-07-01

Psychotropic medicines are widely used to treat mental illness; however, people entering prison commonly report that prescribed psychotropic medicines are changed or withdrawn, adding to their distress in difficult times. Drawing on three extracts from a larger qualitative dataset in which patients and doctors were interviewed about psychotropic medication use in English prisons, we combined discursive psychological and Foucauldian discourse analysis techniques to examine how individuals accounted for medication changes. Patients used four discursive strategies to organize descriptions of medication changes: they established entitlement to psychotropic medication, questioned the clinical judgment of prison doctors; highlighted communication problems; and attributed negative health outcomes to medication regime changes. In contrast, we examined an effective defense by a general practitioner, which showed how clinical needs were prioritized over previously held prescriptions when making prescribing decisions. Wider implications for continuity and equivalence of care between prisons and the wider community are discussed. © The Author(s) 2014.

Digital Natives Versus Digital Immigrants: Influence of Online Health Information Seeking on the Doctor-Patient Relationship.

Science.gov (United States)

Haluza, Daniela; Naszay, Marlene; Stockinger, Andreas; Jungwirth, David

2017-11-01

Ubiquitous Internet access currently revolutionizes the way people acquire information by creating a complex, worldwide information network. The impact of Internet use on the doctor-patient relationship is a moving target that varies across sociodemographic strata and nations. To increase scientific knowledge on the patient-Web-physician triangle in Austria, this study reports findings regarding prevailing online health information-seeking behavior and the respective impact on doctor-patient interactions among a nonprobability convenience sample of Internet users. To investigate digital age group-specific influences, we analyzed whether digital natives and digital immigrants differed in their perspectives. The questionnaire-based online survey collected sociodemographic data and online health information-seeking behavior from a sample of 562 respondents (59% females, mean age 37 ± 15 years, 54% digital natives). Most respondents (79%) referred to the Internet to seek health information, making it the most commonly used source for health information, even more prevalent then the doctor. We found similar predictors for using the Internet as a source for health-related information across digital age groups. Thus, the overall generational gap seems to be small among regular Internet users in Austria. However, study participants expressed a rather skeptical attitude toward electronic exchange of health data between health care professionals and patients, as well as toward reliability of online health information. To improve adoption of electronic doctor-patient communication and patient empowerment, public education and awareness programs are required to promote consumer-centered health care provision and patient empowerment.

Will Medical Technology Deskill Doctors?

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Jingyan

2016-01-01

This paper discusses the impact of medical technology on health care in light of the fact that doctors are becoming more reliant on technology for obtaining patient information, making diagnoses and in carrying out treatments. Evidence has shown that technology can negatively affect doctor-patient communications, physical examination skills, and…

Cleft sidedness and congenitally missing teeth in patients with cleft lip and palate patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdolreza Jamilian

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of cleft sidedness, and the number of congenitally missing teeth in regard to cleft type and gender. Methods The charts, models, radiographs, and intraoral photographs of 201 cleft patients including 131 males with the mean age of 12.3 ± 4 years and 70 females with the mean age of 12.6 ± 3.9 years were used for the study. T test, Chi-square, and binomial tests were used for assessment of the data. Results and conclusions One hundred forty-eight of the subjects suffered from cleft lip and palate followed by 41 subjects who suffered from cleft lip and alveolus. Chi-square test did not show any significant difference between the genders. Binomial test showed that left-sided cleft was more predominant in unilateral cleft lip and palate patients (P < 0.001. This study also showed that the upper lateral incisors were the most commonly missing teeth in the cleft area.

Implementation of the European Working Time Directive in an NHS trust: impact on patient care and junior doctor welfare.

Science.gov (United States)

McIntyre, Hugh F; Winfield, Sarah; Te, Hui Sen; Crook, David

2010-04-01

To comply with the European Working Time Directive (EWTD), from 1 August 2009, junior doctors are required to work no more than 48 hours per week. In accordance with this, East Sussex Hospitals Trust introduced changes to working practice in August 2007. To assess the impact upon patient care and junior doctor welfare a retrospective observational survey comparing data from the year prior to and the year following August 2007 was conducted. No impact on the standard of patient care, as measured by length of stay, death during admission or readmission was found. However, there was a notable increase in episodes of sick leave among junior doctors. Implementation of the EWTD may maintain standards of patient care but may be detrimental to the welfare of doctors in training.

Treatment choices for patients with invasive lobular breast cancer: a doctor survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobs, Carmel; Ibrahim, Mohamed F K; Clemons, Mark; Hutton, Brian; Simos, Demetrios; Caudrelier, Jean-Michel; Graham, Ian D; Smith, Stephanie; Addison, Christina; Arnaout, Angel

2015-08-01

Invasive lobular breast cancer (ILC) has distinct features that present challenges for management. We surveyed doctors regarding management approaches, opinions on quality of evidence supporting their practice, and future research needs. An online questionnaire was developed and circulated to breast cancer surgical, radiation and medical oncologists. The questionnaire was completed by 88/428 doctors (20.6%); 22/56 (39.3%) surgeons, 21/64 (32.8%) radiation oncologists and 45/308 (14.6%) medical oncologists. The majority (65%) of surgeons were comfortable treating ILC patients using the same surgical management as patients with invasive ductal cancers (IDC). Furthermore, 25% would perform a similar surgery but would obtain larger gross margins. There was equipoise for radiation oncologists regarding whether or not ILC was an independent risk factor for local-regional recurrence after either breast-conserving surgery or mastectomy. Of those radiation oncologists who believe ILC is an independent risk factor for recurrence after mastectomy, 44.4% would offer radiation in the absence of usual indications. Medical oncologists approached systemic therapy for ILC patients similarly to those with comparable IDCs. Areas identified as most controversial and requiring future research were preoperative magnetic resonance imaging, radiotherapy post-mastectomy and the responsiveness of ILC to adjuvant chemotherapy compared with endocrine therapy. There is a variation in doctors' beliefs, management and opinions regarding the quality of evidence for the management of ILC. Clinical trials specifically assessing the management of ILC are required to guide clinical practice. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Creating opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and patient-centred care: how nurses, doctors, pharmacists and patients use communication strategies when managing medications in an acute hospital setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Wei; Gerdtz, Marie; Manias, Elizabeth

2016-10-01

This paper examines the communication strategies that nurses, doctors, pharmacists and patients use when managing medications. Patient-centred medication management is best accomplished through interdisciplinary practice. Effective communication about managing medications between clinicians and patients has a direct influence on patient outcomes. There is a lack of research that adopts a multidisciplinary approach and involves critical in-depth analysis of medication interactions among nurses, doctors, pharmacists and patients. A critical ethnographic approach with video reflexivity was adopted to capture communication strategies during medication activities in two general medical wards of an acute care hospital in Melbourne, Australia. A mixed ethnographic approach combining participant observations, field interviews, video recordings and video reflexive focus groups and interviews was employed. Seventy-six nurses, 31 doctors, 1 pharmacist and 27 patients gave written consent to participate in the study. Data analysis was informed by Fairclough's critical discourse analytic framework. Clinicians' use of communication strategies was demonstrated in their interpersonal, authoritative and instructive talk with patients. Doctors adopted the language discourse of normalisation to standardise patients' illness experiences. Nurses and pharmacists employed the language discourses of preparedness and scrutiny to ensure that patient safety was maintained. Patients took up the discourse of politeness to raise medication concerns and question treatment decisions made by doctors, in their attempts to challenge decision-making about their health care treatment. In addition, the video method revealed clinicians' extensive use of body language in communication processes for medication management. The use of communication strategies by nurses, doctors, pharmacists and patients created opportunities for improved interdisciplinary collaboration and patient-centred medication

Patients' poor communication with their doctors in the first visit of the gynecological endocrinology outpatient clinics.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiao-Hong; Han, Zi-Yan; She, Wen-Jing; Lei, Hai-Ke

2016-01-01

To investigate patients' communication with their gynecologists in the first visit of the gynecological endocrinology outpatient clinics. We developed a questionnaire to evaluate 379 women' expectations of their first visit, information-giving about illness, and understanding of the consultation they encountered from April to August 2010. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Before the first visit, 55% (208/379) of participants hoped to get the doctors' special attention, and 60% (227/379) of patients expected a very satisfying consultation. During the consultation, only 34% (129/379) of patients provided their case history clearly according to physicians' inquiry, 21% (81/379) of patients understood the examination and 28% (105/379) of patients understood the therapeutic regime after doctors' explanation. Correlation analysis showed that sociodemographic characteristics such as young age (under 20 years old), low level of education (primary school or less), and lack of medical knowledge affected patients' information-giving about illness and understanding of their first visit (all ps endocrinology outpatient clinics. They could not communicate well with their doctors, which was affected by age, education, and medical background.

Structure, Impact, and Deficiencies of Beginning Counselor Educators' Doctoral Teaching Preparation

Science.gov (United States)

Waalkes, Phillip L.; Benshoff, James M.; Stickl, Jaimie; Swindle, Paula J.; Umstead, Lindsey K.

2018-01-01

The authors utilized the consensual qualitative research method (Hill, Thompson, & Williams, [Hill, C. E., 1997]) to explore beginning counselor educators' (N = 9) experiences of doctoral teaching preparation, including helpful and missing components. Emerging themes included a lack of intentionality in teaching-related program design and a…

Differences in simulated doctor and patient medical decision making: a construal level perspective.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiaxi Peng

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Patients are often confronted with diverse medical decisions. Often lacking relevant medical knowledge, patients fail to independently make medical decisions and instead generally rely on the advice of doctors. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the characteristics of and differences in doctor-patient medical decision making on the basis of construal level theory. METHODS: A total of 420 undergraduates majoring in clinical medicine were randomly assigned to six groups. Their decisions to opt for radiotherapy and surgery were investigated, with the choices described in a positive/neutral/negative frame × decision making for self/others. RESULTS: Compared with participants giving medical advice to patients, participants deciding for themselves were more likely to select radiotherapy (F1, 404 = 13.92, p = 011. Participants from positive or neutral frames exhibited a higher tendency to choose surgery than did those from negative frames (F2, 404 = 22.53, p<.001. The effect of framing on independent decision making was nonsignificant (F2, 404 = 1.07, p = 35; however the effect of framing on the provision of advice to patients was significant (F2, 404 = 12.95, p<.001. The effect of construal level was significant in the positive frame (F1, 404 = 8.06, p = 005 and marginally significant in the neutral frame (F2, 404 = 3.31, p = 07 but nonsignificant in the negative frame (F2, 404 = .29, p = 59. CONCLUSION: Both social distance and framing depiction significantly affected medical decision making and exhibited a significant interaction. Differences in medical decision making between doctors and patients need further investigation.

Doctor-patient communications in the Aboriginal community: towards the development of educational programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Towle, Angela; Godolphin, William; Alexander, Ted

2006-09-01

Aboriginal people in Canada have poorer health than the rest of the population. Reasons for health disparities are many and include problems in communication between doctor and patient. The objective of this study was to understand doctor-patient communication in Aboriginal communities in order to design educational interventions for medical students based on the needs and experiences of patients. Experiences of good and poor communication were studied by semi-structured interviews or focus groups with 22 Aboriginal community members, 2 community health representatives and 2 Aboriginal trainee physicians. Transcribed data were coded and subjected to thematic analysis. Positive and negative experiences of communicating with physicians fell into three broad and interrelated themes: their histories as First Nations citizens; the extent to which the physician was trusted; time in the medical interview. Aboriginal peoples' history affects their communication with physicians; barriers may be overcome when patients feel they have a voice and the time for it to be heard. Physicians can improve communication with Aboriginal patients by learning about their history, building trust and giving time.

Direct-to-consumer advertising: physicians' views of its effects on quality of care and the doctor-patient relationship.

Science.gov (United States)

Murray, Elizabeth; Lo, Bernard; Pollack, Lance; Donelan, Karen; Lee, Ken

2003-01-01

The objective of the study was to determine physicians' views of the effects of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising (DTCA) on health service utilization, quality of care, and the doctor-patient relationship. Cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative sample of US physicians to determine their perceptions of the effects of patients discussing information from DTCA on time efficiency; requests for specific interventions; health outcomes; and the doctor-patient relationship. Physicians reported that more than half (56%) of patients who discussed information from DTCA in a visit did so because they wanted a specific intervention, such as a test, change in medication, or specialist referral. The physician deemed 49% of these requests clinically inappropriate. Physicians filled 69% of requests they deemed clinically inappropriate; 39% of physicians perceived DTCA as damaging to the time efficiency of the visit, and 13% saw it as helpful. Thirty-three percent of physicians thought discussing DTCA had improved the doctor-patient relationship; 8% felt it had worsened it. The effect on the relationship was strongly associated with doing what the patient wanted. DTCA can have good and bad effects on quality of care, the doctor-patient relationship, and health service utilization. The benefits might be maximized, and the harms minimized, by increasing the accuracy of information in advertisements; enhancing physicians' communication and negotiation skills; and encouraging patients to respect physicians' clinical expertise.

[Doctor-patient communication: one of the basic competencies, but different].

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Philippa; Gómez, Gricelda; Kurtz, Suzanne

2012-06-01

Effective communication skills form part of being a good doctor. Today there is solid evidence to support the teaching of effective communication skills in all medical schools. This article describes how communication is different from the other skills that medical students and residents need to learn, how this affects teaching and learning, and the application of these ideas in a Chilean medical school. We describe the premises that need to be taken into consideration when planning teaching communication in medicine and illustrate how these affected the development of our teaching of communication in our undergraduate curriculum. All medical education programmes should include formal teaching on the doctor-patient relationship, but must take into consideration the aspects of communication teaching that make it different from teaching other aspects of medicine. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

Adequate trust avails, mistaken trust matters: on the moral responsibility of doctors as proxies for patients' trust in biobank research.

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Johnsson, Linus; Helgesson, Gert; Hansson, Mats G; Eriksson, Stefan

2013-11-01

In Sweden, most patients are recruited into biobank research by non-researcher doctors. Patients' trust in doctors may therefore be important to their willingness to participate. We suggest a model of trust that makes sense of such transitions of trust between domains and distinguishes adequate trust from mistaken trust. The unique position of doctors implies, we argue, a Kantian imperfect duty to compensate for patients' mistaken trust. There are at least three kinds of mistaken trust, each of which requires a different set of countermeasures. First, trust is mistaken when necessary competence is lacking; the competence must be developed or the illusion dispelled. Second, trust is irrational whenever the patient is mistaken about his actual reasons for trusting. Care must therefore be taken to support the patient's reasoning and moral agency. Third, some patients inappropriately trust doctors to recommend only research that will benefit them directly. Such trust should be counteracted by nurturing a culture where patients expect to be asked occasionally to contribute to the common good. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

How do nursing home doctors involve patients and next of kin in end-of-life decisions? A qualitative study from Norway.

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Romøren, Maria; Pedersen, Reidar; Førde, Reidun

2016-01-14

Ethically challenging critical events and decisions are common in nursing homes. This paper presents nursing home doctors' descriptions of how they include the patient and next of kin in end-of-life decisions. We performed ten focus groups with 30 nursing home doctors. Advance care planning; aspects of decisions on life-prolonging treatment, and conflict with next of kin were subject to in-depth analysis and condensation. The doctors described large variations in attitudes and practices in all aspects of end-of-life decisions. In conflict situations, many doctors were more concerned about the opinion of next of kin than ensuring the patient's best interest. Many end-of-life decisions appear arbitrary or influenced by factors independent of the individual patient's values and interests and are not based on systematic ethical reflections. To protect patient autonomy in nursing homes, stronger emphasis on legal and ethical knowledge among nursing home doctors is needed.

Assessing the extent of utilization of biopsychosocial model in doctor-patient interaction in public sector hospitals of a developing country.

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Nadir, Maha; Hamza, Muhammad; Mehmood, Nadir

2018-01-01

Biopsychosocial (BPS) model has been a mainstay in the ideal practice of modern medicine. It is attributed to improve patient care, compliance, and satisfaction and to reduce doctor-patient conflict. The study aimed to understand the importance given to BPS model while conducting routine doctor-patient interactions in public sector hospitals of a developing country where health resources are limited. The study was conducted in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The study design is qualitative. Structured interviews were conducted from 44 patients from surgical and medical units of Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Holy Family Hospital. The questions were formulated based on patient-centered interviewing methods by reviewing the literature on BPS model. The analysis was done thematically using the software NVivo 11 for qualitative data. The study revealed four emerging themes: (1) Lack of doctor-patient rapport. (2) Utilization of a paternalistic approach during treatment. (3) Utilization of a reductionist biomedical approach during treatment. (4) Patients' concern with their improvement in health and doctor's demeanor. The study highlights the fact that BPS is not given considerable importance while taking routine medical history. This process remains doctor centered and paternalistic. However, patients are more concerned with their improvement in health rather than whether or not they are being provided informational care. Sequential studies will have to be conducted to determine whether this significantly affects patient care and compliance and whether BPS is a workable model in the healthcare system in the third world.

Doctors in a Southeast Asian country communicate sub-optimally regardless of patients' educational background.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Claramita, M.; Dalen, J.V.; Vleuten, C.P.M. van der

2011-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between the style of doctor-patient communication and patients' educational background in a Southeast Asian teaching hospital setting using the Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS). METHODS: We analyzed a total of 245 audio-taped consultations involving 30

Doctors in Balzac's work.

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Moulin, Thierry

2013-01-01

Balzac wrote his novels during a time of great literary and scientific change. Romanticism gave way to the school of realism, of which Balzac could be considered the founder. It was via realism, where both the positive and negative aspects of life were depicted, that doctors naturally gained a much more active role in novels. In conjunction with this was the development of science and medicine, which fascinated Balzac, also leading to the significant and prevalent role of doctors in his works. His fascination with the sciences led to him to gain many acquaintances and much knowledge in the medical domain, especially in neuropsychiatry and physiology. His fictional doctors, such as Desplein and Bianchon, thus demonstrate considerable knowledge of pathology, physiology, and neuropsychiatry. The doctors in Balzac's novels can be grouped into four categories: provincial doctors, Parisian doctors, country doctors, and military doctors. They were most often fictitious representations of real individuals (e.g. Guillaume Dupuytren), and often symbolize schools of thought which were in vogue at the time. In addition to the accurate scientific depiction of doctors, it must be noted that his doctors not only played an active role in clinically assessing their patients, but also had a sociological role in assessing society; it is through his doctors that Balzac gave his opinion of the world in which he lived. Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Senior doctor triage (SDT), a qualitative study of clinicians' views on senior doctors' involvement in triage and early assessment of emergency patients.

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Abdulwahid, Maysam Ali; Turner, Janette; Mason, Suzanne M

2018-07-01

Despite the focus during the last decade on introducing interventions such as senior doctor initial assessment or senior doctor triage (SDT) to reduce emergency department (ED) crowding, there has been little attempt to identify the views of emergency healthcare professionals on such interventions. The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of SDT from the perspective of emergency hospital staff. A secondary aim of this study was to develop a definition of SDT based on the interview findings and the available literature on this process. Qualitative semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with participants of different backgrounds including senior doctors, nurses, paramedics and ED managers. Textual data were analysed using a template analysis approach. 27 participants from 13 EDs across England were interviewed. SDT was viewed as a safety mechanism and a measure to control patient flow. The most prominent positive aspect was the ability to initiate early investigations and treatment. Various shortcomings of SDT were described such as the lack of standardisation of the process and its cost implications. Participants identified a number of barriers to this process including insufficient resources and exit block, and called for solutions focused on these issues. A proposed definition of an 'ideal' SDT was developed where it is described as a systematic brief assessment of patients arriving at the ED by a senior doctor-led team, which takes place in a dedicated unit. The aim of this assessment is to facilitate early investigation and management of patients, early patient disposition and guide junior staff to deliver safe and high-quality clinical care. This is the first national study to explore the opinions of various emergency and managerial staff on the SDT model. It revealed variable interpretations of this model and what it can and cannot offer. This has led to a standard definition of the SDT process, which can be useful for clinicians and

Listening to "How the Patient Presents Herself": A Case Study of a Doctor-Patient Interaction in an Emergency Room

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Delbene, Roxana

2015-01-01

This is a case-study based on a micro-ethnography analyzing a doctor-patient interaction in an emergency room (ER) in New York City. Drawing on the framework of narrative medicine (Charon, 2006), the study examines how a phenomenological approach to listening to the patient facilitated the patient's narrative orientation not only to relevant…

Engaging Terminally Ill Patients in End of Life Talk: How Experienced Palliative Medicine Doctors Navigate the Dilemma of Promoting Discussions about Dying.

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Pino, Marco; Parry, Ruth; Land, Victoria; Faull, Christina; Feathers, Luke; Seymour, Jane

2016-01-01

To examine how palliative medicine doctors engage patients in end-of-life (hereon, EoL) talk. To examine whether the practice of "eliciting and responding to cues", which has been widely advocated in the EoL care literature, promotes EoL talk. Conversation analysis of video- and audio-recorded consultations. Unselected terminally ill patients and their companions in consultation with experienced palliative medicine doctors. Outpatient clinic, day therapy clinic, and inpatient unit of a single English hospice. Doctors most commonly promoted EoL talk through open elaboration solicitations; these created opportunities for patients to introduce-then later further articulate-EoL considerations in such a way that doctors did not overtly ask about EoL matters. Importantly, the wording of elaboration solicitations avoided assuming that patients had EoL concerns. If a patient responded to open elaboration solicitations without introducing EoL considerations, doctors sometimes pursued EoL talk by switching to a less participatory and more presumptive type of solicitation, which suggested the patient might have EoL concerns. These more overt solicitations were used only later in consultations, which indicates that doctors give precedence to patients volunteering EoL considerations, and offer them opportunities to take the lead in initiating EoL talk. There is evidence that doctors treat elaboration of patients' talk as a resource for engaging them in EoL conversations. However, there are limitations associated with labelling that talk as "cues" as is common in EoL communication contexts. We examine these limitations and propose "possible EoL considerations" as a descriptively more accurate term. Through communicating-via open elaboration solicitations-in ways that create opportunities for patients to volunteer EoL considerations, doctors navigate a core dilemma in promoting EoL talk: giving patients opportunities to choose whether to engage in conversations about EoL whilst

Reducing Misses and Near Misses Related to Multitasking on the Electronic Health Record: Observational Study and Qualitative Analysis.

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Ratanawongsa, Neda; Matta, George Y; Bohsali, Fuad B; Chisolm, Margaret S

2018-02-06

Clinicians' use of electronic health record (EHR) systems while multitasking may increase the risk of making errors, but silent EHR system use may lower patient satisfaction. Delaying EHR system use until after patient visits may increase clinicians' EHR workload, stress, and burnout. We aimed to describe the perspectives of clinicians, educators, administrators, and researchers about misses and near misses that they felt were related to clinician multitasking while using EHR systems. This observational study was a thematic analysis of perspectives elicited from 63 continuing medical education (CME) participants during 2 workshops and 1 interactive lecture about challenges and strategies for relationship-centered communication during clinician EHR system use. The workshop elicited reflection about memorable times when multitasking EHR use was associated with "misses" (errors that were not caught at the time) or "near misses" (mistakes that were caught before leading to errors). We conducted qualitative analysis using an editing analysis style to identify codes and then select representative themes and quotes. All workshop participants shared stories of misses or near misses in EHR system ordering and documentation or patient-clinician communication, wondering about "misses we don't even know about." Risk factors included the computer's position, EHR system usability, note content and style, information overload, problematic workflows, systems issues, and provider and patient communication behaviors and expectations. Strategies to reduce multitasking EHR system misses included clinician transparency when needing silent EHR system use (eg, for prescribing), narrating EHR system use, patient activation during EHR system use, adapting visit organization and workflow, improving EHR system design, and improving team support and systems. CME participants shared numerous stories of errors and near misses in EHR tasks and communication that they felt related to EHR

Doctors and the Web. Help your patients surf the Net safely.

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Grandinetti, D A

2000-03-06

The Internet promises to touch every aspect of a physician's professional life, from patient relations to access to clinical studies, from billing to patient records, from marketing to e-mail. To help you make sense of what may be the most profound force in medical practice today, we're kicking off a new series with this article on helping patients navigate the Internet. Future installments, which will run in our first issue of every month, will look at such topics as online patient charts; Web-based electronic medical records; services that electronically connect doctors with health plans, hospitals, and other providers; and online supply purchasing.

Doctor-Patient Relationship and the Medical Student: The Use of Trigger Films.

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Alroy, Gideon; Ber, Rosalie

1982-01-01

Trigger films (short situational films followed by discussion) are seen as a suitable medium for teaching the intricacies of the interpersonal relationship, legitimate behavior patterns following doctor-patient interaction, and the sensitivity and ability to detect nonverbal and accessory communication. Guidelines for the production and use of…

[Doctor-Patient Communication Training in Simulated Situations: Emotions and Perceptions of Simulated Patients during Patient-Centered Conversations].

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Butollo, Maria Asisa; Holzinger, Anita; Wagner-Menghin, Michaela

2018-04-13

The use of simulated patients (SPs) for doctor-patient communication training has been established in medical curricula as an important didactic method. The study addresses the question, if patients' emotions and perceptions are represented adequately in patient-centered communication. 22 of 37 SPs of the Medical University of Vienna (12 women, 10 men) were asked openly about their feelings after having acted as an SP in a semi-structured interview, which employed the Critical Incident Technique. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, separated into situational analysis units und analyzed deductively; we used the evidence based qualities of patient-centered communication and the "Nationaler Kompetenzbasierter Lernzielkatalog Medizin" as a guideline. Out of 192 analysis units, 67 were evaluated as positive and 125 as negative. The SPs reported positive feelings, such as perceiving "stability and trust in relationships" (22%), perception of congruence (15%), acceptance (27%) and empathy (36%). As to negative feelings, SPs reported "perceiving instability" (18%), "incongruence" (11%), "lack of acceptance" (40%) and "lack of empathy" (30%). Additionally, 50% of SPs were positively affected when observing students' learning success. When SPs perceived patient-centered communication, they reported positive emotions. A lack of patient centeredness, on the contrary, provoked negative emotions. An empathic attitude, as well as a "lack of acceptance" with contrary effects had the strongest influence on the SPs' mental state. The reaction of SPs to patient centeredness is sufficiently authentic to reach learning objectives, however it is also affected by reactions of SPs to the learning success of students, which is irrelevant for the real-life doctor-patient interaction. SP reactions are affected by students' attitudes. Students should therefore be prepared well before interacting with SPs in a roleplay setting. While SPs' behavior is authentic in patient

Do doctors pay attention to the religious beliefs of their patients? A survey amongst Dutch GPs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuyck, WGE; Kuyvenhoven, MM

Background. Patients' religious beliefs can offer support at times of illness and disease. Therefore religious beliefs of patients are important in doctor-patient interaction, Objective. To assess to what extent GPs pay attention to religious beliefs of patients in their daily work. Methods. A

Dynamic modeling of patient and physician eye gaze to understand the effects of electronic health records on doctor-patient communication and attention.

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Montague, Enid; Asan, Onur

2014-03-01

The aim of this study was to examine eye gaze patterns between patients and physicians while electronic health records were used to support patient care. Eye gaze provides an indication of physician attention to patient, patient/physician interaction, and physician behaviors such as searching for information and documenting information. A field study was conducted where 100 patient visits were observed and video recorded in a primary care clinic. Videos were then coded for gaze behaviors where patients' and physicians' gaze at each other and artifacts such as electronic health records were coded using a pre-established objective coding scheme. Gaze data were then analyzed using lag sequential methods. Results showed that there are several eye gaze patterns significantly dependent to each other. All doctor-initiated gaze patterns were followed by patient gaze patterns. Some patient-initiated gaze patterns were also followed by doctor gaze patterns significantly unlike the findings in previous studies. Health information technology appears to contribute to some of the new significant patterns that have emerged. Differences were also found in gaze patterns related to technology that differ from patterns identified in studies with paper charts. Several sequences related to patient-doctor-technology were also significant. Electronic health records affect the patient-physician eye contact dynamic differently than paper charts. This study identified several patterns of patient-physician interaction with electronic health record systems. Consistent with previous studies, physician initiated gaze is an important driver of the interactions between patient and physician and patient and technology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Improving communication between doctor and patient: eHealth in the Netherlands, an established cloud solution

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Kool, Anton

2012-01-01

In the Netherlands, like in many West European countries, demand for healthcare is already sharply increasing, with further acceleration expected soon. All parties involved are convinced that the resulting demand for funding of healthcare will not be met by economic growth. The resulting paradigma shift (live longer healthy, self-care and patient centred care) is a challenge not only for scientists, but for politicians and healthcare-providers as well. One of the solutions in the paradigma shift is eHealth. eHealth can refer to automated data-exchange between a device and a central database, but also to healthcare practices that use webbased communication. Strengthening patient participation, motivation and self-management is the hope for better therapy outcome. Early deviations need to be recognized, adverse reactions to be understood and appropriate action to be taken. In itself not new, diaries have been around for decades, but appropriate assessment of its content is too time-consuming. Therefore, the challenge is to involve both the patient and the attending professional (-s) and give eHealth solutions a place in the context of regular care. We combined the internet cloud with advanced security-technology to provide an answer to that: Curavista health, a database driven internetplatform for patient@home and doctor@work. Patient@home replies to webquestionnaires and fill online diaries. The responses are summarized in tables, graphs or automated follow-ups and the patient has immediate insight in the progression achieved. Not only does database technology allow for immediate processing of the responses into summaries; it is also possible to highlight differences, produce alerts or (refer to) educational information. Doctor@work, using an own account, has access to the responses as well as to the summaries, resulting in early insight. Because the patient@home does not necessarily record only biometrics, but also has the opportunity to add other types of replies

Burnout and Doctors: Prevalence, Prevention and Intervention

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Kumar, Shailesh

2016-01-01

Doctors are exposed to high levels of stress in the course of their profession and are particularly susceptible to experiencing burnout. Burnout has far-reaching implications on doctors; patients and the healthcare system. Doctors experiencing burnout are reported to be at a higher risk of making poor decisions; display hostile attitude toward patients; make more medical errors; and have difficult relationships with co-workers. Burnout among doctors also increases risk of depression; anxiety; sleep disturbances; fatigue; alcohol and drug misuse; marital dysfunction; premature retirement and perhaps most seriously suicide. Sources of stress in medical practice may range from the emotions arising in the context of patient care to the environment in which doctors practice. The extent of burnout may vary depending on the practice setting; speciality and changing work environment. Understanding dynamic risk factors associated with burnout may help us develop strategies for preventing and treating burnout. Some of these strategies will be reviewed in this paper. PMID:27417625

Burnout and Doctors: Prevalence, Prevention and Intervention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shailesh Kumar

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Doctors are exposed to high levels of stress in the course of their profession and are particularly susceptible to experiencing burnout. Burnout has far-reaching implications on doctors; patients and the healthcare system. Doctors experiencing burnout are reported to be at a higher risk of making poor decisions; display hostile attitude toward patients; make more medical errors; and have difficult relationships with co-workers. Burnout among doctors also increases risk of depression; anxiety; sleep disturbances; fatigue; alcohol and drug misuse; marital dysfunction; premature retirement and perhaps most seriously suicide. Sources of stress in medical practice may range from the emotions arising in the context of patient care to the environment in which doctors practice. The extent of burnout may vary depending on the practice setting; speciality and changing work environment. Understanding dynamic risk factors associated with burnout may help us develop strategies for preventing and treating burnout. Some of these strategies will be reviewed in this paper.

Use of electronic medical records and quality of patient data: different reaction patterns of doctors and nurses to the hospital organization.

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Lambooij, Mattijs S; Drewes, Hanneke W; Koster, Ferry

2017-02-10

As the implementation of Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) in hospitals may be challenged by different responses of different user groups, this paper examines the differences between doctors and nurses in their response to the implementation and use of EMRs in their hospital and how this affects the perceived quality of the data in EMRs. Questionnaire data of 402 doctors and 512 nurses who had experience with the implementation and the use of EMRs in hospitals was analysed with Multi group Structural equation modelling (SEM). The models included measures of organisational factors, results of the implementation (ease of use and alignment of EMR with daily routine), perceived added value, timeliness of use and perceived quality of patient data. Doctors and nurses differ in their response to the organisational factors (support of IT, HR and administrative departments) considering the success of the implementation. Nurses respond to culture while doctors do not. Doctors and nurses agree that an EMR that is easier to work with and better aligned with their work has more added value, but for the doctors this is more pronounced. The doctors and nurses perceive that the quality of the patient data is better when EMRs are easier to use and better aligned with their daily routine. The result of the implementation, in terms of ease of use and alignment with work, seems to affect the perceived quality of patient data more strongly than timeliness of entering patient data. Doctors and nurses value bottom-up communication and support of the IT department for the result of the implementation, and nurses respond to an open and innovative organisational culture.

Symptomatic Patients without Epidemiological Indicators of HIV Have a High Risk of Missed Diagnosis: A Multi-Centre Cross Sectional Study.

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Brännström, Johanna; Svedhem, Veronica; Marrone, Gaetano; Andersson, Örjan; Azimi, Farshad; Blaxhult, Anders; Sönnerborg, Anders

2016-01-01

One quarter of HIV-1 positive individuals in Sweden present for care with HIV or AIDS associated conditions without an HIV test (missed presentations) and 16% report neglect of such symptoms. The objective of this study was to identify risk factors for these missed opportunities of HIV-1 diagnosis. A national study, recruiting 409 newly diagnosed HIV-1 infected adults over a 2.5-year period, was performed. Logistic regression models tested the relationship between missed presentation and patient's neglect versus socio-demographic and behavioural risk factors. Additionally the initiator of the HIV test was assessed. The odds for a missed presentation was lower for migrants (from East Europe, Asia, and Pacific (East): OR 0.4 (0.2-0.8); Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): 0.3 (0.2-0.6); other: 0.5 (0.2-1.0)), compared to patients born in Sweden, just as symptoms neglected by the patient (East (0.3 (0.1-1.0); SSA (0.4 (0.2-0.8)). The latter was also lower for men who have sex with men (0.5 (0.2-1.0)), compared to patients infected heterosexually. Patients infected in the East, with present/previous substance use or a previous negative HIV test were more likely to take the initiative to test on their own, whereas those >50 years and with a previously missed presentation had significantly reduced odds, pepidemiological indicators of HIV are more likely to have a history of missed presentations, to neglect symptoms and are less prone to take an initiative to test for HIV themselves. It is important to further implement testing to include all patients with symptoms and conditions indicative of HIV.

Completion of Limitation of Medical Treatment forms by junior doctors for patients with dementia: clinical, medicolegal and education perspectives.

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Yoong, Jaclyn; MacPhail, Aleece; Trytel, Gael; Rajendram, Prashanti Yalini; Winbolt, Margaret; Ibrahim, Joseph E

2017-10-01

Objective Limitation of Medical Treatment (LMT) forms are an essential element of end-of-life care. Decision making around LMT is complex and often involves patients with dementia. Despite the complexity, junior doctors frequently play a central role in completing LMT forms. The present study sought perspectives from a range of stakeholders (hospital clinicians, medical education personnel, legal and advocacy staff) about junior doctors' roles in completing LMT forms in general and for patients with dementia. Methods Qualitative data were gathered in semi-structured interviews (SSI) and theoretical concepts were explored in roundtable discussion (RD). Participants were recruited through purposive and convenience sampling drawing on healthcare and legal personnel employed in the public hospital and aged care systems, selected from major metropolitan hospitals, healthcare and legal professional bodies and advocacy organisations in Victoria, Australia. The contents of the SSIs and RD were subject to thematic analysis using a framework approach. Data were indexed according to the topics established in the study aim; categories were systematically scrutinised, from which key themes were distilled. Results Stakeholders reported that completing LMT forms was difficult for junior doctors because of a lack of medical and legal knowledge, as well as clinical inexperience and inadequate training. Healthcare organisations (HCOs) either lacked policies about the role of junior doctors or had practices that were discordant with policy. In this process, there were substantial gaps pertaining to patients with dementia. Recommendations made by the study participants included the provision of supervised clinical exposure and additional training for junior doctors, strengthening HCO policies and explicit consideration of the needs of patients with dementia. Conclusions LMT forms should be designed for clarity and consistency across HCOs. Enhancing patient care requires appropriate

How doctors view and use social media: a national survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, James; Ryan, Christopher; Harris, Anthony

2014-12-02

Doctors are uncertain of their ethical and legal obligations when communicating with patients online. Professional guidelines for patient-doctor interaction online have been written with limited quantitative data about doctors' current usage and attitudes toward the medium. Further research into these trends will help to inform more focused policy and guidelines for doctors communicating with patients online. The intent of the study was to provide the first national profile of Australian doctors' attitudes toward and use of online social media. The study involved a quantitative, cross-sectional online survey of Australian doctors using a random sample from a large representative database. Of the 1500 doctors approached, 187 participated (12.47%). Most participants used social media privately, with only one-quarter not using any social media websites at all (48/187, 25.7%). One in five participants (30/155, 19.4%) had received a "friend request" from a patient. There was limited use of online communication in clinical practice: only 30.5% (57/187) had communicated with a patient through email and fewer than half (89/185, 48.1%) could offer their patients electronic forms of information if that were the patients' preference. Three in five participants (110/181, 60.8%) reported not being uncomfortable about interacting with patients who had accessed personal information about them online, prior to the consultation. Most of the participants (119/181, 65.8%) were hesitant to immerse themselves more fully in social media and online communication due to worries about public access and legal concerns. Doctors have different practices and views regarding whether or how to communicate appropriately with patients on the Internet, despite online and social media becoming an increasingly common feature of clinical practice. Additional training would assist doctors in protecting their personal information online, integrating online communication in patient care, and guidance on

Factors Associated with Medical Doctors' Intentions to Discriminate Against Transgender Patients in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Vijay, Aishwarya; Earnshaw, Valerie A.; Tee, Ying Chew; Pillai, Veena; White Hughto, Jaclyn M.; Clark, Kirsty; Kamarulzaman, Adeeba; Altice, Frederick L.

2018-01-01

Abstract Purpose: Transgender people are frequent targets of discrimination. Discrimination against transgender people in the context of healthcare can lead to poor health outcomes and facilitate the growth of health disparities. This study explores factors associated with medical doctors' intentions to discriminate against transgender people in Malaysia. Methods: A total of 436 physicians at two major university medical centers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, completed an online survey. Sociodemographic characteristics, stigma-related constructs, and intentions to discriminate against transgender people were measured. Bivariate and multivariate linear regression were used to evaluate independent covariates of discrimination intent. Results: Medical doctors who felt more fearful of transgender people and more personal shame associated with transgender people expressed greater intention to discriminate against transgender people, whereas doctors who endorsed the belief that transgender people deserve good care reported lower discrimination intent. Stigma-related constructs accounted for 42% of the variance and 8% was accounted for by sociodemographic characteristics. Conclusions: Constructs associated with transgender stigma play an important role in medical doctors' intentions to discriminate against transgender patients. Development of interventions to improve medical doctors' knowledge about and attitudes toward transgender people are necessary to reduce discriminatory intent in healthcare settings. PMID:29227183

Factors Associated with Medical Doctors' Intentions to Discriminate Against Transgender Patients in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Vijay, Aishwarya; Earnshaw, Valerie A; Tee, Ying Chew; Pillai, Veena; White Hughto, Jaclyn M; Clark, Kirsty; Kamarulzaman, Adeeba; Altice, Frederick L; Wickersham, Jeffrey A

2018-01-01

Transgender people are frequent targets of discrimination. Discrimination against transgender people in the context of healthcare can lead to poor health outcomes and facilitate the growth of health disparities. This study explores factors associated with medical doctors' intentions to discriminate against transgender people in Malaysia. A total of 436 physicians at two major university medical centers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, completed an online survey. Sociodemographic characteristics, stigma-related constructs, and intentions to discriminate against transgender people were measured. Bivariate and multivariate linear regression were used to evaluate independent covariates of discrimination intent. Medical doctors who felt more fearful of transgender people and more personal shame associated with transgender people expressed greater intention to discriminate against transgender people, whereas doctors who endorsed the belief that transgender people deserve good care reported lower discrimination intent. Stigma-related constructs accounted for 42% of the variance and 8% was accounted for by sociodemographic characteristics. Constructs associated with transgender stigma play an important role in medical doctors' intentions to discriminate against transgender patients. Development of interventions to improve medical doctors' knowledge about and attitudes toward transgender people are necessary to reduce discriminatory intent in healthcare settings.

Patient and doctor attitudes and beliefs concerning perioperative do not resuscitate orders: anesthesiologists' growing compliance with patient autonomy and self determination guidelines.

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Burkle, Christopher M; Swetz, Keith M; Armstrong, Matthew H; Keegan, Mark T

2013-01-15

In 1993, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) published guidelines stating that automatic perioperative suspension of Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders conflicts with patients' rights to self-determination. Almost 20 years later, we aimed to explore both patient and doctor views concerning perioperative DNR status. Five-hundred consecutive patients visiting our preoperative evaluation clinic were surveyed and asked whether they had made decisions regarding resuscitation and to rate their agreement with several statements concerning perioperative resuscitation. Anesthesiologists, surgeons and internists at our tertiary referral institution were also surveyed. They were asked to assess their likelihood of following a hypothetical patient's DNR status and to rate their level of agreement with a series of non-scenario related statements concerning ethical and practical aspects of perioperative resuscitation. Over half of patients (57%) agreed that pre-existing DNR requests should be suspended while undergoing a surgical procedure under anesthesia, but 92% believed a discussion between the doctor and patient regarding perioperative resuscitation plans should still occur. Thirty percent of doctors completing the survey believed that DNR orders should automatically be suspended intraoperatively. Anesthesiologists (18%) were significantly less likely to suspend DNR orders than surgeons (38%) or internists (34%) (p < 0.01). Although many patients agree that their DNR orders should be suspended for their operation, they expect a discussion regarding the performance and nature of perioperative resuscitation. In contrast to previous studies, anesthesiologists were least likely to automatically suspend a DNR order.

Factors influencing the missed nursing care in patients from a private hospital.

Science.gov (United States)

Hernández-Cruz, Raúl; Moreno-Monsiváis, María Guadalupe; Cheverría-Rivera, Sofía; Díaz-Oviedo, Aracely

2017-07-10

to determine the factors that influence the missed nursing care in hospitalized patients. descriptive correlational study developed at a private hospital in Mexico. To identify the missed nursing care and related factors, the MISSCARE survey was used, which measures the care missed and associated factors. The care missed and the factors were grouped in global and dimension rates. For the analysis, descriptive statistics, Spearman's correlation and simple linear regression were used. Approval for the study was obtained from the ethics committee. the participants were 71 nurses from emergency, intensive care and inpatient services. The global missed care index corresponded to M=7.45 (SD=10.74); the highest missed care index was found in the dimension basic care interventions (M=13.02, SD=17.60). The main factor contributing to the care missed was human resources (M=56.13, SD=21.38). The factors related to the care missed were human resources (rs=0.408, precursos humanos (M=56,13, DE=21,38). Os fatores relacionados ao cuidado omitido foram os recursos humanos (rs=0,408, precursos humanos; com base nos resultados deste estudo pode-se fortalecer a continuidade do cuidado de enfermagem. determinar los factores que influyen en el cuidado de enfermería perdido en pacientes hospitalizados. estudio descriptivo correlacional, se realizó en un hospital privado de México. Para identificar el cuidado perdido y factores relacionados se utilizó el instrumento MISSCARE que mide el cuidado perdido y los factores asociados. El cuidado perdido y los factores se agruparon en índices globales y por dimensiones. Para el análisis se utilizó estadística descriptiva, correlación de Spearman y regresión lineal simple. El estudio fue aprobado por el comité de ética. participaron 71 enfermeras de los servicios de urgencias, terapia intensiva y hospitalización. El índice global de cuidado perdido mostró una M=7,45 (DE=10,74); el índice con mayor cuidado perdido correspondió a

Acute side effects during 3-D-planned conformal radiotherapy of prostate cancer. Differences between patient's self-reported questionnaire and the corresponding doctor's report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldner, G.; Wachter-Gerstner, N.; Wachter, S.; Dieckmann, K.; Janda, M.; Poetter, R.

2003-01-01

Background: Radiotherapy-induced side effects are often scored retrospectively according to the EORTC/RTOG scores for organs at risk by reviewing the medical records. Some studies could prove an over- or underestimation of side effects as assessed by the medical professionals. The aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate differences in side effects as described by the doctors and the patients. Patients and Methods: 47 patients with prostate cancer were questioned about their side effects by a radiotherapist and asked to fill in a questionnaire at the start, in the middle and at the end of radiotherapy. The data of this questionnaire and the doctor's report were scored according to the German version of the EORTC/RTOG scores for gastrointestinal (GI) and genitourinary (GU) side effects and subsequently compared. We distinguished between ''moderate'' disagreement (better/worse by one grade, assessed by the doctor) and ''pronounced'' disagreement (better/worse by two grades, assessed by the doctor). Results: The number of GI and GU side effects increased during radiotherapy both according to data obtained from the doctor and the patient questionnaire. Comparing doctors' reports with patients' questionnaires, for GI side effects an agreement was found in 22/47 patients, ''moderately better'' scores by the doctor's report were found in 13/47 patients, and ''moderately worse'' scores in 9/47 patients on average. ''Pronouncedly better and worse'' scores were found in 2/47 patients. For GU side effects an agreement was seen in 22/47 patients, ''moderately better'' scores in 17/47 patients and ''moderately worse'' scores in 3/47 patients. Regarding GU side effects, only pronouncedly better scores, as assessed by the doctor, were found in a mean of 4/47 patients. If the EORTC/RTOG score is used in its original English version, a difference is found, particularly in the assessment of GU side effects, resulting in an higher amount of agreement concerning GU side effects

[Psychiatric patients at the police station in the southern South Holland region: assessment by the District Health Service forensic doctor].

Science.gov (United States)

Aardoom, H A; Huisman-Wolfs, M M; Nijs, H G T

2002-09-21

To describe the epidemiological characteristics of ambulant psychiatric patients who were either brought to the police station or who came by themselves, but who were not kept in a cell, as a basis for the development of a reception protocol. Descriptive. The data from the medical records from 2000 kept by the forensic doctors employed by the district health services for the Southern South Holland region were inventoried. On request by the police, the forensic doctors examined 203 clients. The majority of these were middle-aged men who did have a place of residence. The reason for police involvement was bizarre or confused behaviour in public. Half of the patients had received or were receiving some form of psychiatric treatment from the mental health service. In approximately half of the cases the forensic doctor found a solution together with the police. In the other half of the cases the forensic doctor asked the crisis intervention team at the mental health service for an evaluation. Two thirds of these patients were hospitalised and one third was sent away. Because examination by both the forensic doctor and the mental health service psychiatrist and other procedures were lengthy (up to 6 hours), patients had to spend a long time in a holding cell at the police station that was not designed for stays of this length of time, and often lacked toilet facilities. The forensic doctor treated about half the clients without the need of assistance from the crisis intervention psychiatrist. The temporary accommodation for these confused clients was inadequate.

Patient-Centred Multidisciplinary Inpatient Care-Have Diagnosis-Related Groups an Effect on the Doctor-Patient Relationship and Patients' Motivation for Behavioural Change?

Science.gov (United States)

Romeyke, Tobias; Noehammer, Elisabeth; Ch Scheuer, Hans; Stummer, Harald

2016-10-01

The aim of this, the largest survey of patients performed to date, is to analyse the effects of diagnosis related groups (DRGs) on the doctor-patient relationship in the context of interdisciplinary patient-centered care. In addition, it is intended to investigate the possibility of motivating patients to change their behavioural patterns and lifestyle in the context of holistic therapy. Over a period of five years, a continuous survey was performed of hospitalised patients who were exercising their entitlement to interdisciplinary therapy in an acute, inpatient setting. The therapy was evaluated as good to very good both with and without the conditions of the case tariff fee system. Effects of the diagnosis related groups on the quality of the doctor-patient relationship could not be demonstrated (Mann-Whitney U test, p>0,05). A clear trend was evident in the influence on motivation to change behavioural patterns and lifestyle (Fisher's exact test, p=0,000). Studies of the effects of reimbursement systems in the context of interdisciplinary care are still in their infancy, despite the widespread use of diagnosis related groups. The mandatory character implicit in the case tariff fee system, which requires minimum qualitative standards for structural and procedural parameters in the context of providing interdisciplinary patient-centered care, can influence patients' behavioural patterns and lifestyle.

Protest of doctors: a basic human right or an ethical dilemma.

Science.gov (United States)

Abbasi, Imran Naeem

2014-03-10

Peaceful protests and strikes are a basic human right as stated in the United Nations' universal declaration on human rights. But for doctors, their proximity to life and death and the social contract between a doctor and a patient are stated as the reasons why doctors are valued more than the ordinary beings. In Pakistan, strikes by doctors were carried out to protest against lack of service structure, security and low pay. This paper discusses the moral and ethical concerns pertaining to the strikes by medical doctors in the context of Pakistan. The author has carefully tried to balance the discussion about moral repercussions of strikes on patients versus the circumstances of doctors working in public sector hospitals of a developing country that may lead to strikes. Doctors are envisaged as highly respectable due to their direct link with human lives. Under Hippocrates oath, care of the patient is a contractual obligation for the doctors and is superior to all other responsibilities. From utilitarian perspective, doctors' strikes are justifiable only if there is evidence of long term benefits to the doctors, patients and an improvement in service delivery. Despite that, it is hard to justify such benefits against the risks to the patients. Harms that may incur to the patients include: prolongation of sufferings, irreversible damage to health, delay in treatment, death, loss of work and waste of financial resources.In a system of socialized medicine, government owing to greater control over resources and important managerial decisions should assume greater responsibility and do justice to all stakeholders including doctors as well as patients. If a doctor is underpaid, has limited options for career growth and is forced to work excessively, then not only quality of medical care and ability to act in the best interests of patients is adversely affected, it may also lead to brain drain. There is no single best answer against or in favor of doctors' industrial

Targeted doctors, missing patients: obstetric health services and sectarian conflict in northern Pakistan.

Science.gov (United States)

Varley, Emma

2010-01-01

The spectre of exclusionary medical service provision, restricted clinic access and physician targeting in sectarian-divided Iraq underscores the crucial and timely need for qualitative research into the inter-relationship between conflict, identity and health. In response, this paper provides a critical ethnography of obstetric service provision and patient access during Shia-Sunni hostilities in Gilgit Town, capital of Pakistan's Northern Areas (2005). I analyse how services were embedded in and constrained by sectarian affiliation in ways that detrimentally impacted Sunni women patients and hospital staff, resulting in profoundly diminished clinic access, reduced physician coverage and a higher observed incidence of maternal morbidity and mortality. The paper first situates obstetric medicine at the interstices of contested sectarian terrain and competing historical projects of sectarian identity. Gilgiti Sunnis' high clinical reliance is argued to be a response to and consequence of, inter-sectarian dissonance and the ascendance of biomedicine during three decades of regional development. In 2005, conflict-incurred service deprivations and the enactment and strategic use of sectarian identity in clinical settings were associated with differential treatment and patient-perceived adverse health outcomes, leading Sunnis to generate alternative sect-specific health services. Obstetric morbidity and mortality during sectarian conflict are analyzed as distinctive manifestations of the wide range of direct harms routinely associated with violence and political strife.

Instrumental and socioemotional communications in doctor-patient interactions in urban and rural clinics

OpenAIRE

Desjarlais-deKlerk, Kristen; Wallace, Jean E

2013-01-01

Background Location of practice, such as working in a rural or urban clinic, may influence how physicians communicate with their patients. This exploratory pilot study examines the communication styles used during doctor-patient interactions in urban and rural family practice settings in Western Canada. Methods We analyzed observation and interview data from four physicians practicing in these different locations. Using a grounded theory approach, communications were categorized as either ins...

Missed retinal breaks in rhegmatogenous retinal detachment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brijesh Takkar

2016-12-01

Full Text Available AIM: To evaluate the causes and associations of missed retinal breaks (MRBs and posterior vitreous detachment (PVD in patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD. METHODS: Case sheets of patients undergoing vitreo retinal surgery for RRD at a tertiary eye care centre were evaluated retrospectively. Out of the 378 records screened, 253 were included for analysis of MRBs and 191 patients were included for analysis of PVD, depending on the inclusion criteria. Features of RRD and retinal breaks noted on examination were compared to the status of MRBs and PVD detected during surgery for possible associations. RESULTS: Overall, 27% patients had MRBs. Retinal holes were commonly missed in patients with lattice degeneration while missed retinal tears were associated with presence of complete PVD. Patients operated for cataract surgery were significantly associated with MRBs (P=0.033 with the odds of missing a retinal break being 1.91 as compared to patients with natural lens. Advanced proliferative vitreo retinopathy (PVR and retinal bullae were the most common reasons for missing a retinal break during examination. PVD was present in 52% of the cases and was wrongly assessed in 16%. Retinal bullae, pseudophakia/aphakia, myopia, and horse shoe retinal tears were strongly associated with presence of PVD. Traumatic RRDs were rarely associated with PVD. CONCLUSION: Pseudophakic patients, and patients with retinal bullae or advanced PVR should be carefully screened for MRBs. Though Weiss ring is a good indicator of PVD, it may still be over diagnosed in some cases. PVD is associated with retinal bullae and pseudophakia, and inversely with traumatic RRD.

A marketing clinical doctorate programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Montoya, Isaac D; Kimball, Olive M

2007-01-01

Over the past decade, clinical doctorate programs in health disciplines have proliferated amid both support and controversy among educators, professional organizations, practitioners, administrators, and third-party payers. Supporters argue that the explosion of new knowledge and increasing sophistication of technology have created a need for advanced practice models to enhance patient care and safety and to reduce costs. Critics argue that necessary technological advances can be incorporated into existing programs and believe that clinical doctorates will increase health care costs, not reduce them. Despite the controversy, many health disciplines have advanced the clinical doctorate (the most recent is the doctor of nursing practice in 2004), with some professions mandating the doctorate as the entry-level degree (i.e., psychology, pharmacy, audiology, and so on). One aspect of the introduction of clinical doctoral degrees has been largely overlooked, and that is the marketing aspect. Because of marketing considerations, some clinical doctorates have been more successfully implemented and accepted than others. Marketing is composed of variables commonly known as "the four P's of marketing": product, price, promotion, and place. This report explores these four P's within the context of clinical doctorates in the health disciplines.

What do patients choose to tell their doctors? Qualitative analysis of potential barriers to reattributing medically unexplained symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Sarah; Rogers, Anne; Salmon, Peter; Gask, Linda; Dowrick, Chris; Towey, Maria; Clifford, Rebecca; Morriss, Richard

2009-04-01

Despite both parties often expressing dissatisfaction with consultations, patients with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) prefer to consult their general practitioners (GPs) rather than any other health professional. Training GPs to explain how symptoms can relate to psychosocial problems (reattribution) improves the quality of doctor-patient communication, though not necessarily patient health. To examine patient experiences of GPs' attempts to reattribute MUS in order to identify potential barriers to primary care management of MUS and improvement in outcome. Qualitative study. Patients consulting with MUS whose GPs had been trained in reattribution. A secondary sample of patients of control GPs was also interviewed to ascertain if barriers identified were specific to reattribution or common to consultations about MUS in general. Thematic analysis of in-depth interviews. Potential barriers include the complexity of patients' problems and patients' judgements about how to manage their presentation of this complexity. Many did not trust doctors with discussion of emotional aspects of their problems and chose not to present them. The same barriers were seen amongst patients whose GPs were not trained, suggesting the barriers are not particular to reattribution. Improving GP explanation of unexplained symptoms is insufficient to reduce patients' concerns. GPs need to (1) help patients to make sense of the complex nature of their presenting problems, (2) communicate that attention to psychosocial factors will not preclude vigilance to physical disease and (3) ensure a quality of doctor-patient relationship in which patients can perceive psychosocial enquiry as appropriate.

Prescription habits of dispensing and non-dispensing doctors in Zimbabwe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Trap, Birna; Hansen, Ebba Holme; Hogerzeil, Hans V

2002-01-01

, race, place of education, location of practice and patients seen per day showed that dispensing by doctors was associated with less clinically and economically appropriate prescribing. These findings suggest that the quality of health care--as related to drug use, patient safety and treatment cost......The number of dispensing doctors has increased in the last decade, but the implication of this trend on the quality of health care and drug use is unknown. We present a comparative drug utilization study of 29 dispensing doctors and 28 non-dispensing doctors in Zimbabwe based on standard indicators...... developed by the World Health Organization. Dispensing doctors prescribed significantly more drugs per patient than non-dispensing doctors (2.3 versus 1.7), injected more patients (28.4% versus 9.5%), and prescribed more antibiotics (0.72 versus 0.54) and mixtures (0.43 versus 0.25) per encounter...

EHR adoption among doctors who treat the elderly.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeager, Valerie A; Menachemi, Nir; Brooks, Robert G

2010-12-01

The purpose of this study is to examine Electronic Health Record (EHR) adoption among Florida doctors who treat the elderly. This analysis contributes to the EHR adoption literature by determining if doctors who disproportionately treat the elderly differ from their counterparts with respect to the utilization of an important quality-enhancing health information technology application. This study is based on a primary survey of a large, statewide sample of doctors practising in outpatient settings in Florida. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine whether doctors who treat a high volume of elderly (HVE) patients were different with respect to EHR adoption. Our analyses included responses from 1724 doctors. In multivariate analyses controlling for doctor age, training, computer sophistication, practice size and practice setting, HVE doctors were significantly less likely to adopt EHR. Specifically, compared with their counterparts, HVE doctors were observed to be 26.7% less likely to be utilizing an EHR system (OR=0.733, 95% CI 0.547-0.982). We also found that doctor age is negatively related to EHR adoption, and practice size and doctor computer savvy-ness is positively associated. Despite the fact that EHR adoption has improved in recent years, doctors in Florida who serve the elderly are less likely to adopt EHRs. As long as HVE doctors are adopting EHR systems at slower rates, the elderly patients treated by these doctors will be at a disadvantage with respect to potential benefits offered by this technology. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Rasch-family models are more valuable than score-based approaches for analysing longitudinal patient-reported outcomes with missing data.

Science.gov (United States)

de Bock, Élodie; Hardouin, Jean-Benoit; Blanchin, Myriam; Le Neel, Tanguy; Kubis, Gildas; Bonnaud-Antignac, Angélique; Dantan, Étienne; Sébille, Véronique

2016-10-01

The objective was to compare classical test theory and Rasch-family models derived from item response theory for the analysis of longitudinal patient-reported outcomes data with possibly informative intermittent missing items. A simulation study was performed in order to assess and compare the performance of classical test theory and Rasch model in terms of bias, control of the type I error and power of the test of time effect. The type I error was controlled for classical test theory and Rasch model whether data were complete or some items were missing. Both methods were unbiased and displayed similar power with complete data. When items were missing, Rasch model remained unbiased and displayed higher power than classical test theory. Rasch model performed better than the classical test theory approach regarding the analysis of longitudinal patient-reported outcomes with possibly informative intermittent missing items mainly for power. This study highlights the interest of Rasch-based models in clinical research and epidemiology for the analysis of incomplete patient-reported outcomes data. © The Author(s) 2013.

Doctor-patient interaction in Finnish primary health care as perceived by first year medical students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mäntyselkä Pekka

2005-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In Finland, public health care is the responsibility of primary health care centres, which render a wide range of community level preventive, curative and rehabilitative medical care. Since 1990's, medical studies have involved early familiarization of medical students with general practice from the beginning of the studies, as this pre-clinical familiarisation helps medical students understand patients as human beings, recognise the importance of the doctor-patient relationship and identify practicing general practitioners (GPs as role models for their professional development. Focused on doctor-patient relationship, we analysed the reports of 2002 first year medical students in the University of Kuopio. The students observed GPs' work during their 2-day visit to primary health care centres. Methods We analysed systematically the texts of 127 written reports of 2002, which represents 95.5% of the 133 first year pre-clinical medical students reports. The reports of 2003 (N = 118 and 2004 (N = 130 were used as reference material. Results Majority of the students reported GPs as positive role models. Some students reported GPs' poor attitudes, which they, however, regarded as a learning opportunity. Students generally observed a great variety of responsibilities in general practice, and expressed admiration for the skills and abilities required. They appreciated the GPs' interest in patients concerns. GPs' communication styles were found to vary considerably. Students reported some factors disturbing the consultation session, such as the GP staring at the computer screen and other team members entering the room. Working with marginalized groups, the chronically and terminally ill, and dying patients was seen as an area for development in the busy Finnish primary health care centres. Conclusion During the analysis, we discovered that medical students' perceptions in this study are in line with the previous findings about the

Direct-to-consumer advertising: public perceptions of its effects on health behaviors, health care, and the doctor-patient relationship.

Science.gov (United States)

Murray, Elizabeth; Lo, Bernard; Pollack, Lance; Donelan, Karen; Lee, Ken

2004-01-01

To determine public perceptions of the effect of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription medications on health behaviors, health care utilization, the doctor-patient relationship, and the association between socioeconomic status and these effects. Cross-sectional survey of randomly selected, nationally representative sample of the US public using computer-assisted telephone interviewing. numbers and proportions of respondents in the past 12 months who, as a result of DTCA, requested preventive care or scheduled a physician visit; were diagnosed with condition mentioned in advertisement; disclosed health concerns to a doctor; felt enhanced confidence or sense of control; perceived an effect on the doctor-patient relationship; requested a test, medication change, or specialist referral; or manifested serious dissatisfaction after a visit to a doctor. As a result of DTCA, 14% of respondents disclosed health concerns to a physician, 6% requested preventive care, 5% felt more in control during a physician visit; 5% made requests for a test, medication change, or specialist referral, and 3% received the requested intervention. One percent of patients reported negative outcomes, including worsened treatment, serious dissatisfaction with the visit, or that the physician acted challenged. Effects of DTCA were greater for respondents with low socioeconomic status. DTCA has positive and negative effects on health behaviors, health service utilization, and the doctor-patient relationship that are greatest on people of low socioeconomic status. The benefits of DTCA in terms of encouraging hard-to-reach sections of the population to seek preventive care must be balanced against increased health care costs caused by clinically inappropriate requests generated by DTCA.

"Sorry Can You Speak It in English with Me?" Managing Routines in Lingua Franca Doctor--Patient Consultations in a Diabetes Clinic

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Gillian S.

2015-01-01

Research on the routines of doctor-patient consultations has been conducted in language and culture concordant dyads and in dyads where either doctor or patient uses a foreign language; yet there is an absence of scholarly engagement with consultations where both participants are using a foreign language. In seeking to address this gap, this…

Which Doctor to Trust: A Recommender System for Identifying the Right Doctors.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Li; Jin, Bo; Yao, Cuili; Yang, Haoyu; Huang, Degen; Wang, Fei

2016-07-07

Key opinion leaders (KOLs) are people who can influence public opinion on a certain subject matter. In the field of medical and health informatics, it is critical to identify KOLs on various disease conditions. However, there have been very few studies on this topic. We aimed to develop a recommender system for identifying KOLs for any specific disease with health care data mining. We exploited an unsupervised aggregation approach for integrating various ranking features to identify doctors who have the potential to be KOLs on a range of diseases. We introduce the design, implementation, and deployment details of the recommender system. This system collects the professional footprints of doctors, such as papers in scientific journals, presentation activities, patient advocacy, and media exposure, and uses them as ranking features to identify KOLs. We collected the information of 2,381,750 doctors in China from 3,657,797 medical journal papers they published, together with their profiles, academic publications, and funding. The empirical results demonstrated that our system outperformed several benchmark systems by a significant margin. Moreover, we conducted a case study in a real-world system to verify the applicability of our proposed method. Our results show that doctors' profiles and their academic publications are key data sources for identifying KOLs in the field of medical and health informatics. Moreover, we deployed the recommender system and applied the data service to a recommender system of the China-based Internet technology company NetEase. Patients can obtain authority ranking lists of doctors with this system on any given disease.

URGENT NEED OF A DOCTOR

CERN Multimedia

Medical Service

2001-01-01

IN URGENT NEED OF A DOCTOR GENEVA EMERGENCY SERVICES GENEVA AND VAUD 144 FIRE BRIGAD 118 POLICE 117 CERN FIREMEN 767-44-44 ANTI-POISONS CENTRE Open 24h/24h 01-251-51-51 Patient not fit to be moved, call family doctor, or: GP AT HOME, open 24h/24h 748-49-50 Association Of Geneva Doctors Emergency Doctors at home 07h-23h 322 20 20 Patient fit to be moved: HOPITAL CANTONAL CENTRAL 24 Micheli-du-Crest 372-33-11 ou 382-33-11 EMERGENCIES 382-33-11 ou 372-33-11 CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL 6 rue Willy-Donzé 372-33-11 MATERNITY 32 bvd.de la Cluse 382-68-16 ou 382-33-11 OPHTHALMOLOGY 22 Alcide Jentzer 382-33-11 ou 372-33-11 MEDICAL CENTRE CORNAVIN 1-3 rue du Jura 345 45 50 HOPITAL DE LA TOUR Meyrin EMERGENCIES 719-61-11 URGENCES PEDIATRIQUES 719-61-00 LA TOUR MEDICAL CENTRE 719-74-00 European EmergencyCall 112 FRANCE EMERGENCY SERVICES 15 FIRE BRIGADE 18 POLICE 17 CERN FIREMEN AT HOME 00-41-22-767-44-44 ANTI-POISONS CENTRE Open 24h/24h 04-72-11-69-11 All doctors will...

When doctor becomes patient: challenges and strategies in caring for physician-patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Domeyer-Klenske, Amy; Rosenbaum, Marcy

2012-01-01

The current study was aimed at exploring the challenges that arise in the doctor-patient relationship when the patient is also a physician and identifying strategies physicians use to meet these challenges. No previous research has systematically investigated primary care physicians' perspectives on caring for physician-patients. Family medicine (n=15) and general internal medicine (n=14) physicians at a large Midwestern university participated in semi-structured interviews where they were asked questions about their experiences with physician-patients and the strategies they used to meet the unique needs of this patient population. Thematic analysis was used to identify common responses. Three of the challenges most commonly discussed by physician participants were: (1) maintaining boundaries between relationships with colleagues or between roles as physician/colleague/friend, (2) avoiding assumptions about patient knowledge and health behaviors, and (3) managing physician-patients' access to informal consultations, personal test results, and opinions from other colleagues. We were able to identify three main strategies clinicians use in addressing these perceived challenges: (1) Ignore the physician-patient's background, (2) Acknowledge the physician-patient's background and negotiate care, and (3) Allow care to be driven primarily by the physician-patient. It is important that primary care physicians understand the challenges inherent in treating physicians and develop a strategy with which they are comfortable addressing them. Explicitly communicating with the physician-patient to ensure boundaries are maintained, assumptions about the physician-patient are avoided, and physician-patient access is properly managed are key to providing quality care to physician-patients.

'Covering doctors' standing in for unavailable colleagues: What is ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2018-01-19

Jan 19, 2018 ... [1] In terms of contract, a doctor 'undertakes to treat a patient with the required skill and care, and a patient undertakes to pay their fees'.[1] Under the law of delict, once a doctor begins to provide care to a person or instructs other healthcare personnel on how to treat such a person, the doctor is regarded as ...

[Walking among doctors and patients. Stories and reflections.

Science.gov (United States)

Pagliaro, Luigi; Colli, Agostino

2016-09-01

The clinician - the doctor who treats sick people - should be able to establish a good human relationship with his or her patients and their family; should be able to reach a diagnosis even in patients with rare diseases, or atypical presentations - or should refer the patient to a senior colleague; and should be able to recommend the best treatment (or no treatment at all). And he - or she - should be able to draw these abilities from the "deliberate practice" according to Ericsson, i.e. from the combination of experience with reflection - not, or with much lesser strength, from the medical literature as suggested by Evidence-Based Medicine. The diagnosis is often an easy task, i.e. by pattern recognition or recognizing a frequent illness script - "fast thinking" in the vocabulary of Kahneman; or a difficult task, sometimes very difficult for rare diseases or atypical presentations - "slow thinking" of Kahneman. The decisions about the use of therapeutic interventions, whether for individuals or entire healthcare systems, should be based on the totality of the available evidence. The idea that evidence can be reliably or usefully placed in "hierarchies" is illusory, and the pedestal deserved to the RCT is inappropriate.

Between the Cup and the Lip: Missed Dental Appointments.

Science.gov (United States)

Tandon, Sandeep; Duhan, Reena; Sharma, Meenakshi; Vasudeva, Suraj

2016-05-01

Missed appointments are an issue which have been very commonly noticed but overlooked in Indian dental society. Almost every dentist, general or specialized, private or public, has faced this problem in routine practice but very less research has been conducted on this issue in Asian countries. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and distribution of missed dental appointments among children and the reasons behind the non-attendance in department of paediatric and preventive dentistry. Patients under 15 years of age who reported during the period March through August 2014 were included in this study. Attendance data and demographical data for patients was obtained from patient records and the hospital database. The type of treatment patients were to receive was gathered from the appointment diaries of staff, postgraduate students and undergraduates. A structured questionnaire regarding the most frequent reasons given by patients for not attending the scheduled appointment was also prepared. The data were analysed using descriptive analysis. Of the total 2294 patients 886 patients failed to come on their scheduled appointment. Percentage of patients who missed their appointments was 38.6%. A 38.2% of them required primary teeth pulp therapy. No significant differences was found between genders regarding the prevalence of missed dental appointments. Only 40% dentist witnessed that the most common reason for their patients to miss dental appointment was "no leave from school". Illness was the second frequent excuse heard by dentists (5/20= 25%) from their patients and attendants. Missed dental appointment was found to be a common issue in paediatric age group. Counseling and motivation is required to be done at first dental visit to reduce the chances of missed appointment.

Doctor Competence and the Demand for Healthcare: Evidence from Rural China.

Science.gov (United States)

Fe, Eduardo; Powell-Jackson, Timothy; Yip, Winnie

2017-10-01

The agency problem between patients and doctors has long been emphasised in the health economics literature, but the empirical evidence on whether patients can evaluate and respond to better quality care remains mixed and inconclusive. Using household data linked to an assessment of village doctors' clinical competence in rural China, we show that there is no correlation between doctor competence and patients' healthcare utilisation, with confidence intervals reasonably tight around zero. Household perceptions of quality are an important determinant of care-seeking behaviour, yet patients appear unable to recognise more competent doctors - there is no relationship between doctor competence and perceptions of quality. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The feminisation of Canadian medicine and its impact upon doctor productivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Weizblit, Nataly; Noble, Jason; Baerlocher, Mark Otto

2009-05-01

We examined the differences in work patterns between female and male doctors in Canada to gain insight into the effect of an increased number of female doctors on overall doctor productivity. Data on the practice profiles of female and male doctors across Canada were extracted from the 2007 National Physician Survey. A doctor productivity measure, 'work hours per week per population' (WHPWPP), was created, based on the number of weekly doctor hours spent providing direct patient care per 100,000 citizens. The predicted WHPWPP was calculated for a hypothetical time-point when the female and male doctor populations reach equilibrium. The differences in current and predicted WHPWPP were then analysed. Female medical students currently (2007) outnumber male medical students (at 57.8% of the medical student population). The percentage of practising doctors who are women is highest in the fields of paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, psychiatry and family practice. Female doctors work an average of 47.5 hours per week (giving 30.0 hours of direct patient care), compared with 53.8 hours worked by male doctors (35.0 hours of direct patient care) (P work less on call hours per week and see fewer patients while on-call. Female doctors are also more likely to take parental leave or a leave of absence (P work patterns described in the present study persist, an overall decrease in doctor productivity is to be anticipated.

[Supervision of junior doctors and allocation of work tasks regarding admissions and further treatment of acute admitted patients.

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Folkestad, Lars; Brabrand, Mikkel; Hallas, Peter

2010-01-01

INTRODUCTION: It is being debated whether medical staff working at the emergency departments with acute admission services dealing with medical patients have the required professional competence level. It has not previously been documented which doctors see the acute admissions initially at emerg......INTRODUCTION: It is being debated whether medical staff working at the emergency departments with acute admission services dealing with medical patients have the required professional competence level. It has not previously been documented which doctors see the acute admissions initially...... for help from a senior colleague. Udgivelsesdato: 2010-May-31...

Patient and doctor attitudes and beliefs concerning perioperative do not resuscitate orders: anesthesiologists’ growing compliance with patient autonomy and self determination guidelines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Burkle Christopher M

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In 1993, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA published guidelines stating that automatic perioperative suspension of Do Not Resuscitate (DNR orders conflicts with patients’ rights to self-determination. Almost 20 years later, we aimed to explore both patient and doctor views concerning perioperative DNR status. Methods Five-hundred consecutive patients visiting our preoperative evaluation clinic were surveyed and asked whether they had made decisions regarding resuscitation and to rate their agreement with several statements concerning perioperative resuscitation. Anesthesiologists, surgeons and internists at our tertiary referral institution were also surveyed. They were asked to assess their likelihood of following a hypothetical patient’s DNR status and to rate their level of agreement with a series of non-scenario related statements concerning ethical and practical aspects of perioperative resuscitation. Results Over half of patients (57% agreed that pre-existing DNR requests should be suspended while undergoing a surgical procedure under anesthesia, but 92% believed a discussion between the doctor and patient regarding perioperative resuscitation plans should still occur. Thirty percent of doctors completing the survey believed that DNR orders should automatically be suspended intraoperatively. Anesthesiologists (18% were significantly less likely to suspend DNR orders than surgeons (38% or internists (34% (p  Conclusions Although many patients agree that their DNR orders should be suspended for their operation, they expect a discussion regarding the performance and nature of perioperative resuscitation. In contrast to previous studies, anesthesiologists were least likely to automatically suspend a DNR order.

The persuasive role of ethos in doctor-patient interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Bigi, Sarah

2011-01-01

In 'expert-to-non-expert' interactions, one of the distinguishing features is that there is no or very little shared knowledge between the subjects. This situation may become particularly challenging when the unshared knowledge is of a very technical kind, as the likeliness of misunderstandings or unsuccessful communication becomes very high. This is particularly true of interactions between patients and physicians. In the course of such interactions, physicians are expected to inform, advise and persuade patients regarding their health problems. It is especially when differences of opinion emerge that physicians need to be persuasive, but it is also then that this may become very difficult, as the patient does not share the medical expertise of the physician. At these moments, one of the most powerful means of persuasion in the hands of physicians is their professional ethos, or authority. The paper presents partial results of an ongoing research project aimed at describing the ways in which physicians construct their professional ethos in interactions with their patients, and how they use it to reconcile patients' diverging opinions with their own. The analysis is carried out on a corpus of video recordings of doctor-patient interactions and it is aimed at identifying different persuasive strategies based on the professional ethos.

How Doctors View and Use Social Media: A National Survey

OpenAIRE

Brown, James; Ryan, Christopher; Harris, Anthony

2014-01-01

Background Doctors are uncertain of their ethical and legal obligations when communicating with patients online. Professional guidelines for patient-doctor interaction online have been written with limited quantitative data about doctors’ current usage and attitudes toward the medium. Further research into these trends will help to inform more focused policy and guidelines for doctors communicating with patients online. Objective The intent of the study was to provide the first national profi...

Perspectives of Patients, Doctors and Medical Students at a Public University Hospital in Rio de Janeiro Regarding Tuberculosis and Therapeutic Adherence

Science.gov (United States)

de Andrade, Elizabeth da Trindade; Hennington, Élida Azevedo; de Siqueira, Hélio Ribeiro; Rolla, Valeria Cavalcanti; Mannarino, Celina

2015-01-01

Introduction The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies 8.7 million new cases of tuberculosis (TB) annually around the world. The unfavorable outcomes of TB treatment prevent the achievement of the WHO’s cure target. Goal To evaluate existing intersections in the conceptions relative to the knowledge of TB, the experience of the illness and the treatment. Methods Doctors, medical students and patients were selected from a public university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 2011 to 2013. The data were obtained by semi-structured individual and focus group interviews, participant observation and a field journal. The inclusion of patients was interrupted due to saturation, and the inclusion of doctors and medical students stopped due to exhaustion. The theoretical background included symbolic Interactionism, and the analysis used rounded Theory. The analysis prioritized the actions/interactions axis. Results Twenty-three patients with pulmonary TB, seven doctors and 15 medical students were included. In the interviews, themes such as stigma, self-segregation, and difficulties in assistance emerged, in addition to defense mechanisms such as denial, rationalization, isolation and other mental mechanisms, including guilt, accountability and concealment of the disease. Aspects related to the assistance strategy, the social support network, bonding with the healthcare staff and the doctor-patient relationship were highlighted as adherence enablers. Doctors and students recommended an expansion of the theoretical and practical instruction on TB during medical students’ education. The existence of health programs and policies was mentioned as a potential enabler of adherence. Conclusion The main concepts identified were the stigma, self-segregation, guilt, responsibility, concealment and emotional repercussions. In relation to the facilitation of therapeutic adherence, the concepts identified were the bonds with healthcare staff, the doctor-patient relationship

Perspectives of Patients, Doctors and Medical Students at a Public University Hospital in Rio de Janeiro Regarding Tuberculosis and Therapeutic Adherence.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth da Trindade de Andrade

Full Text Available The World Health Organization (WHO identifies 8.7 million new cases of tuberculosis (TB annually around the world. The unfavorable outcomes of TB treatment prevent the achievement of the WHO's cure target.To evaluate existing intersections in the conceptions relative to the knowledge of TB, the experience of the illness and the treatment.Doctors, medical students and patients were selected from a public university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 2011 to 2013. The data were obtained by semi-structured individual and focus group interviews, participant observation and a field journal. The inclusion of patients was interrupted due to saturation, and the inclusion of doctors and medical students stopped due to exhaustion. The theoretical background included symbolic Interactionism, and the analysis used rounded Theory. The analysis prioritized the actions/interactions axis.Twenty-three patients with pulmonary TB, seven doctors and 15 medical students were included. In the interviews, themes such as stigma, self-segregation, and difficulties in assistance emerged, in addition to defense mechanisms such as denial, rationalization, isolation and other mental mechanisms, including guilt, accountability and concealment of the disease. Aspects related to the assistance strategy, the social support network, bonding with the healthcare staff and the doctor-patient relationship were highlighted as adherence enablers. Doctors and students recommended an expansion of the theoretical and practical instruction on TB during medical students' education. The existence of health programs and policies was mentioned as a potential enabler of adherence.The main concepts identified were the stigma, self-segregation, guilt, responsibility, concealment and emotional repercussions. In relation to the facilitation of therapeutic adherence, the concepts identified were the bonds with healthcare staff, the doctor-patient relationship, assistance and educational health

Perspectives of Patients, Doctors and Medical Students at a Public University Hospital in Rio de Janeiro Regarding Tuberculosis and Therapeutic Adherence.

Science.gov (United States)

de Andrade, Elizabeth da Trindade; Hennington, Élida Azevedo; Siqueira, Hélio Ribeiro de; Rolla, Valeria Cavalcanti; Mannarino, Celina

2015-01-01

The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies 8.7 million new cases of tuberculosis (TB) annually around the world. The unfavorable outcomes of TB treatment prevent the achievement of the WHO's cure target. To evaluate existing intersections in the conceptions relative to the knowledge of TB, the experience of the illness and the treatment. Doctors, medical students and patients were selected from a public university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 2011 to 2013. The data were obtained by semi-structured individual and focus group interviews, participant observation and a field journal. The inclusion of patients was interrupted due to saturation, and the inclusion of doctors and medical students stopped due to exhaustion. The theoretical background included symbolic Interactionism, and the analysis used rounded Theory. The analysis prioritized the actions/interactions axis. Twenty-three patients with pulmonary TB, seven doctors and 15 medical students were included. In the interviews, themes such as stigma, self-segregation, and difficulties in assistance emerged, in addition to defense mechanisms such as denial, rationalization, isolation and other mental mechanisms, including guilt, accountability and concealment of the disease. Aspects related to the assistance strategy, the social support network, bonding with the healthcare staff and the doctor-patient relationship were highlighted as adherence enablers. Doctors and students recommended an expansion of the theoretical and practical instruction on TB during medical students' education. The existence of health programs and policies was mentioned as a potential enabler of adherence. The main concepts identified were the stigma, self-segregation, guilt, responsibility, concealment and emotional repercussions. In relation to the facilitation of therapeutic adherence, the concepts identified were the bonds with healthcare staff, the doctor-patient relationship, assistance and educational health strategies.

Interdisciplinary management of an adult patient with class II div 1 Malocclusion, Anterior Open Bite and multiple missing molars

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rohit Mehrotra

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This case report describes the esthetic and functional rehabilitation of a female patient in her mid forties having Class II Div 1 malocclusion, anterior open bite and multiple missing molars, with orthodontics and implant prosthodontics. The patient had bilaterally missing upper first and third molars and lower first and second molars. Orthodontic treatment using skeletal anchorage was performed to retract and align the upper anteriors and correct the open bite. In the upper arch, first molar spaces were closed and no prosthesis was needed. In the lower arch, the anteriors and premolars were aligned and implants were placed bilaterally to replace the missing molars and provide proper occlusion with the upper posteriors. Significant improvement in the occlusion, smile and facial esthetics was achieved. This article highlights the importance of an interdisciplinary team approach for providing optimum treatment to many adult patients.

Chronically ill Canadians' experiences of being unattached to a family doctor: a qualitative study of marginalized patients in British Columbia.

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Crooks, Valorie A; Agarwal, Gina; Harrison, Angela

2012-07-16

Unattached patients do not have a regular primary care provider. Initiatives are being developed to increase attachment rates across Canada. Most existing attention paid to patient unattachment has focused on quantifying the problem and health system costs. Our purpose is to qualitatively identify the implications of chronically ill patients' experiences of unattachment for health policy and planning to provide policy-relevant insights for Canadian attachment initiatives. Three focus groups were conducted with marginalized chronically ill individuals residing in a mid-sized city in British Columbia who are unattached to a family doctor. We use the term marginalized as a descriptor to acknowledge that by virtue of their low socio-economic status and lack of attachment the participants are marginalized in Canada's health care system Focus groups were structured as an open conversation organized around a series of probing questions. They were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was employed. Twenty-six individuals participated in the focus groups. The most common chronic illnesses reported were active drug addiction or recovery (and their associated symptoms), depression, arthritis, and hepatitis C. Participants identified life transitions as being the root cause for not having a family doctor. There was a strong sense that unsuccessful attempts to get a family doctor reflected that they were undesirable patients. Participants wanted to experience having a trusting relationship with a regular family doctor as they believed it would encourage greater honesty and transparency. One of the main health concerns regarding lack of access to a regular family doctor is that participants lacked access to preventative care. Participants were also concerned about having a discontinuous medical record due to unattachment. Participants perceived that there are many benefits to be had by having attachment to a regular family doctor and that experiencing

Protest of doctors: a basic human right or an ethical dilemma

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Peaceful protests and strikes are a basic human right as stated in the United Nations’ universal declaration on human rights. But for doctors, their proximity to life and death and the social contract between a doctor and a patient are stated as the reasons why doctors are valued more than the ordinary beings. In Pakistan, strikes by doctors were carried out to protest against lack of service structure, security and low pay. This paper discusses the moral and ethical concerns pertaining to the strikes by medical doctors in the context of Pakistan. The author has carefully tried to balance the discussion about moral repercussions of strikes on patients versus the circumstances of doctors working in public sector hospitals of a developing country that may lead to strikes. Discussion Doctors are envisaged as highly respectable due to their direct link with human lives. Under Hippocrates oath, care of the patient is a contractual obligation for the doctors and is superior to all other responsibilities. From utilitarian perspective, doctors’ strikes are justifiable only if there is evidence of long term benefits to the doctors, patients and an improvement in service delivery. Despite that, it is hard to justify such benefits against the risks to the patients. Harms that may incur to the patients include: prolongation of sufferings, irreversible damage to health, delay in treatment, death, loss of work and waste of financial resources. In a system of socialized medicine, government owing to greater control over resources and important managerial decisions should assume greater responsibility and do justice to all stakeholders including doctors as well as patients. If a doctor is underpaid, has limited options for career growth and is forced to work excessively, then not only quality of medical care and ability to act in the best interests of patients is adversely affected, it may also lead to brain drain. Summary There is no single best answer against or

The major clinical determinants of maternal death among obstetric near-miss patients: a tertiary centre experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simsek, Y.; Yilmaz, E.; Celik, E.

2013-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the characteristics of obstetric near-miss patients to clarify the major risk factors of maternal mortality. Methods: From among the patients referred to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Inonu University of Medical Sciences, Turkey, between August 1, 2010 and March 1, 2012, electronic records of obstetric near-miss cases were retrospectively analysed. The obstetric and demographic characteristics of cases that were successfully treated (Group 1) as well as cases with maternal death (Group 2) were analysed and compared. SPSS 11.5 was used for statistical analysis. Results: Of the total 2687 cases handled during the study period, 95 (3.53%) were of the near-miss nature. The most frequently encountered underlying aetiology was severe preeclampsia (n=55; 57.89%) and haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelet count syndrome (n=20; 21.1%). These were followed by cases of postpartum bleeding (n=18; 18.9%). Maternal mortality occurred in 10 (10.5%) patients, representing Group 2. The amount of haemorrhage and blood transfused were significantly higher in the group. Maternal mortality cases had also significantly longer duration of intensive care unit admission. Conclusion: Early diagnosis and immediate management of the complications noted by the study can be the most important measures to prevent the occurrence of mortality. (author)

Awareness, attitudes, need and demand on replacement of missing teeth among a group of partially dentate patients attending a University Dental Hospital.

Science.gov (United States)

Jayasinghe, Rasika Manori; Perera, Janana; Jayasinghe, Vajira; Thilakumara, Indika P; Rasnayaka, Sumudu; Shiraz, Muhammad Hanafi Muhammad; Ranabahu, Indra; Kularatna, Sanjeewa

2017-07-27

Our objective was to assess awareness, attitudes, need and demand on replacement of missing teeth according to edentulous space, age, gender, ethnicity, educational level and socio-economical status of the patient. 76.2% of the study group was opined that the missing teeth should be replaced by prosthetic means. Majority were keen in getting them replaced mainly for the comfort in mastication. Although 77.9 and 32.9% were aware of the removable prostheses and implants respectively, only 25.2% knew about tooth supported bridges as an option of replacement of missing teeth. Participants' awareness on tooth and implant supported prostheses is at a higher level. Participants' opinion on need of regular dental visit was statistically significant when gender, ethnicity and education level were considered. The highest demand for replacement of missing teeth was observed in Kennedy class I and II situations in both upper and lower arches. Demand for fixed prostheses was significantly highest in Kennedy class II in upper and lower arches. In conclusion, although removable prosthodontic options are known to most of the patients, their awareness on tooth and implant supported prostheses is also at a higher level. The highest demand for replacement of missing teeth is by patients with Kennedy class I and II situations whereas Kennedy class II being the category with highest demand for fixed prostheses. We recommend that the location of missing teeth to be considered as a priority when educating patients on the most appropriate prosthetic treatment options. Dentists' involvement in educating patients on prosthetic options needs to be improved.

[Assessment of betahistine dihydrochloride effectiveness in the treatment of disturbance of balance system, based on analysis of doctors and patients questionnaires results].

Science.gov (United States)

Jurkiewicz, Dariusz; Kantor, Ireneusz; Usowski, Jacek

2006-01-01

In balance system assessment there is no single set of tests applicable for all patients. A comprehensive medical history plays a main role in balance assessment. Patients often describe the same disorders in different ways. The aim of our work was to analyze effectiveness of betahistine hydrochloride (Betaserc) treatment on vertigo, nausea, vomiting, tinnitus and progressive hearing loss basing on the medical assessment (interview) performed by doctors and patient's personal questionnaires as well as to collect and accumulate data about balance system disorders. We prepared questionnaires for both doctors and patients. The doctor's questionnaire was divided into three sections. In the first section we included questions about direct cause of visit at the doctor's office. Questions were covering problems regarding balance system disorders (difficulty to keep erect position), vertigo, tinnitus, hearing impairment and other problems. The second section of the questionnaire included assessment of treatment effectiveness through the first 14 days and on the 28th day (a control visit). A third section of the questionnaire was focused on estimation of intensity of balance system disturbances. Patient's questionnaire included everyday self observations of intensity of disturbances within the 14 days observation period. We analyzed data of 980 patients, of the age between 16 and 96 years (mean age--54.1). There were 57.8% females and 42.2% males. From the group of 980 patients we separated a group of patients under 40 and over 60 years of age for additional analysis. Having analyzed doctors questionnaires we noted that the most frequent cause of patients' visits were: vertigo--in 770 people (78.57%), tinnitus--in 708 people (72.24%), disturbance of balance system--in 612 people (62.45%), hearing loss--in 607 people (61.94%) and other problems--in 72 people (7.35%). Patients over 60 years of age described vertigo as rolling and falling (38.92%). Patients under 40 years of

[Sex tourism and AIDS: doctors between duty and powerlessness].

Science.gov (United States)

de Wert, Guido; Ploem, Corrette

2014-01-01

What can a doctor do if he knows that an HIV-positive patient who is refusing antiretroviral therapy is going on a sex tourism holiday to Thailand, for example? A doctor in a moral dilemma could break professional confidentiality in order to protect any sexual partners, but in this case these partners are not known. In practice, the only thing the doctor can do is to talk to the patient about his responsibility to prevent infection of others and to point out the risks of unsafe sex for the patient himself.

Patient-doctor interaction in rehabilitation: the relationship between perceived interaction quality and long-term treatment results.

Science.gov (United States)

Dibbelt, Susanne; Schaidhammer, Monika; Fleischer, Christian; Greitemann, Bernhard

2009-09-01

A body of evidence suggests that good interaction is crucial for high-quality medical practice and has a considerable impact on treatment outcomes. Less is known about the role and significance of doctor-patient interaction in rehabilitation. The study aim was to capture perceived quality of doctor-patient interaction in rehabilitation by a rating instrument (P.A.INT-Questionnaire. P.A.INT is the abbreviation for Patient-Arzt-Interaktion (German)) and to examine the relationship between perceived quality of interaction and long-term treatment outcomes. Referring to the approach of Bensing [Bensing JM. Doctor patient communication and the quality of care. Utrecht: NIVEL; 1990] we defined "quality of interaction" in terms of three dimensions: (1) affective behaviour, i.e. empathy, positive regard and coherence [Rogers CR. Die nicht direktive Beratung München: Kindler Studienausgabe [Counselling and psychotherapy, 1942]. Boston; 1972]; (2) instrumental behaviour: providing and collecting information, structuring and reinforcement; (3) participation and involvement of patients. Two parallel versions of the questionnaire were developed for patients and physicians. Seven rehabilitation clinics in north western Germany participated in the multi-centre study. Sixty-one doctors and their four hundred and seventy patients evaluated both their shared dialogues upon admission, discharge and ward round. Furthermore, patients rated their health status on admission (t0), discharge (t1) and six months after discharge (t2) with the IRES-3 (Indicators of Rehabilitation Status Questionnaire, Version 3). (1) Comparisons of patient and physician evaluations on admission revealed the following: affective quality of contact (empathy and coherence) was rated positively and without discrepancies by both patients and physicians. On the other hand, instrumental behaviour (information and structuring) was rated less positively by patients than by physicians. (2) Patients who rated the

Between professional values, social regulations and patient preferences: medical doctors' perceptions of ethical dilemmas.

Science.gov (United States)

Bringedal, Berit; Isaksson Rø, Karin; Magelssen, Morten; Førde, Reidun; Aasland, Olaf Gjerløv

2018-04-01

We present and discuss the results of a Norwegian survey of medical doctors' views on potential ethical dilemmas in professional practice. The study was conducted in 2015 as a postal questionnaire to a representative sample of 1612 doctors, among which 1261 responded (78%). We provided a list of 41 potential ethical dilemmas and asked whether each was considered a dilemma, and whether the doctor would perform the task, if in a position to do so. Conceptually, dilemmas arise because of tensions between two or more of four doctor roles: the patient's advocate, a steward of societal interests, a member of a profession and a private individual. 27 of the potential dilemmas were considered dilemmas by at least 50% of the respondents. For more than half of the dilemmas, the anticipated course of action varied substantially within the professional group, with at least 20% choosing a different course than their colleagues, indicating low consensus in the profession. Doctors experience a large range of ethical dilemmas, of which many have been given little attention by academic medical ethics. The less-discussed dilemmas are characterised by a low degree of consensus in the profession about how to handle them. There is a need for medical ethicists, medical education, postgraduate courses and clinical ethics support to address common dilemmas in clinical practice. Viewing dilemmas as role conflicts can be a fruitful approach to these discussions. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

The agency of patients and carers in medical care and self-care technologies for interacting with doctors.

Science.gov (United States)

Nunes, Francisco; Andersen, Tariq; Fitzpatrick, Geraldine

2017-06-01

People living with Parkinson's disease engage in self-care for most of the time but, two or three times a year, they meet with doctors to re-evaluate the condition and adjust treatment. Patients and (informal) carers participate actively in these encounters, but their engagement might change as new patient-centred technologies are integrated into healthcare infrastructures. Drawing on a qualitative study that used observations and interviews to investigate consultations, and digital ethnography to understand interactions in an online community, we describe how patients and carers living with Parkinson's participate in the diagnosis and treatment decisions, engage in discussions to learn about certain topics, and address inappropriate medication. We contrast their engagement with a review of self-care technologies that support interactions with doctors, to investigate how these artefacts may influence the agency of patients and carers. Finally, we discuss design ideas for improving the participation of patients and carers in technology-mediated scenarios.

Patient‑doctor relationship: The practice orientation of doctors in Kano

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2013-08-19

Aug 19, 2013 ... relationship borders mainly on patients' satisfaction[12‑16] from either the .... Female. 47 (22.0). Marital status. Single. 87 (40.7). Married. 127 (59.3) ... doctors' place of work was only statistically significant in the “sharing” ...

Reinventing The Doctor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moyez Jiwa

2011-07-01

Full Text Available There has been a seismic shift in the lives of people because of technology. People are far better informed than they were in the 1980s and 1990s. Much of this information is available through the media but even more is available and archived on the internet. The forces pushing the internet into health and health care are strong and unstoppable, ensuring that the internet and the choices it offers must be part of the design of our future health care system. We are no longer content to wait in queues as we live at a faster pace than earlier generations — we don’t not have time to wait for appointments months, weeks or even days in advance. The internet offers the prospect of online consultations in the comfort of your own home. The physical examination will change as new devices are developed to allow the necessary sounds and signals emitted by our malfunctioning bodies to be recorded, interpreted and captured at a remote location. Meanwhile, for those who prefer to see a health care practitioner in person the options to consult practitioners other than doctors who can advise on our health is expanding. The reality is we can’t afford to train or pay for all the doctors we need under the current “doctor-knows-best” system of health care. Patients no longer believe the rhetoric and are already voting with their feet. Pharmacists, nurses and other allied health professionals are beginning to play a much greater role in offering relief from symptoms and monitoring of chronic diseases. Of course, the doctor of the future will still need to offer face-to-face consultations to some people most of the time or most people some of the time. The social role doctors play will continue to be important as humans will always need other humans to personally respond to their distress. As doctors reinvent themselves, the internet and the value of time with patients will be the driving forces that move us into a more sustainable future in health care.

Diagnosis and Management of a Patient with Congenitally Missing Maxillary First Permanent Molars: A Rare Case Report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Megha Gupta

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Congenitally missing teeth are the most commonly seen dental anomalies. Agenesis of the permanent first molar has the least frequency of all the tooth types, and it usually occurs in association with oligodontia or anodontia. Thus, agenesis of the bilateral maxillary first permanent molar is an extremely rare occurrence, and no such case has been reported in ethnic Saudi Arabian population. We hereby report a case of nonsyndromic bilateral congenitally missing maxillary first permanent molar in an eight-year-old Saudi female patient. Comprehensive oral rehabilitation was done for the patient. The implications of the tooth agenesis are also discussed. The prognosis of this case is presented.

Attitudes and self-reported behavior of patients, doctors, and pharmacists in New Zealand and Belgium toward direct-to-consumer advertising of medication.

Science.gov (United States)

Dens, Nathalie; Eagle, Lynne C; De Pelsmacker, Patrick

2008-01-01

Patients', doctors', and pharmacists' attitudes toward direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) for medication and their perceptions of its impact on patient self-reported behavior in terms of request for, and consumption of, advertised medication were investigated. Data were obtained in New Zealand, 1 of only 2 countries that allow mass-media DTCA for prescription medication, and in Belgium, which does not. Attitudes were relatively negative in both countries, but significantly more positive in New Zealand than in Belgium. The impact of DTCA (both in a positive and a negative sense) on self-reported patient behavior and patient interaction with doctors and pharmacists was limited in both countries. Although -- as already established in previous work -- the informativeness and reliability of DTCA can be much improved, and the attitude of medical professionals toward DTCA is negative in both countries, from the point of view of medical professionals and patients, DTCA does not harm the self-reported relationship between doctors, pharmacists, and patients.

Doctor-patient communication in radiology: a great opportunity for future radiology.

Science.gov (United States)

Bazzocchi, M

2012-04-01

This text discusses several aspects of doctor-patient communication in radiology, including the origins, advantages, and ethical and legal aspects. Over the last 10 years, radiologists have assumed increasing responsibilities towards patients and society. Patients, who are becoming better informed and more aware about medical issues, have a right to be given a timely diagnosis and want to receive as much information as possible from the radiologist. This has implications for several levels of everyday radiological practice, including the organisation of work, legal and ethical aspects and radiologist training. Better interaction with the patient helps to build a closer, more trusting, relationship with the result that the radiologist will be more motivated in his or her work. Until now, radiologists were not adequately trained to communicate the diagnosis directly and verbally to patients, especially when the diagnosis was unfavourable. It is important to emphasise the need for more specific and practical training in this respect, which is indispensable for future developments of the discipline.

Factors Influencing Communication with Doctors via the Internet: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of 2014 HINTS Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Shaohai; Street, Richard L

2017-02-01

Based on Street's (2003) ecological framework of communication in medical encounters, this study examined personal, interpersonal, and media factors that could influence patients' use of the Internet to communicate with doctors. Results from data analysis of responses from the 2014 Health Information National Trends Survey showed that patient activation and ease of Internet access were two positive predictors of online doctor-patient communication. In addition, patients' trust in doctors positively moderated the relationships between patient activation and online doctor-patient communication, and between perceived health status and online doctor-patient communication. Finally, the quality of patients' past experiences communicating with doctors had a positive moderation effect on the association between health information seeking behavior and online doctor-patient communication. Implications and limitations are discussed.

How stressful is doctor-patient communication? Physiological and psychological stress of medical students in simulated history taking and bad-news consultations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hulsman, Robert L.; Pranger, Susan; Koot, Stephanie; Fabriek, Marcel; Karemaker, John M.; Smets, Ellen M. A.

2010-01-01

Introduction: Medical communication can be a stressful experience for both doctors and patients. In particular, inexperienced doctors facing the demanding task of a bad news consultation may experience high levels of distress. The aim of this exploratory study is to test students' differential

The communicative dimension in medical training: A proposal to strengthen the doctor-patient relationship

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacinto Sánchez-Angarita

2017-10-01

Based on these approaches, a proposal is made to promote education considering the PBL teaching strategy that favors training in the communicative dimension, in order to promote the integration of disciplines, the construction of meaningful learning, interdisciplinary work, and problem solving with a holistic vision. Additionally, obtaining information to solve learning situations, making decisions and finding ways of communicating with patients is intended with the purpose of strengthening the doctor-patient relationship.

Gender variations in specialties among medical doctors working in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Gender variations exist in the choice of specialties among ... as it affects the distribution of doctors in public health institutions and patient care. ... For female doctors,pediatrics was the topmost specialty (25%) followed by ... Keywords: Gender variation,Specialties,Doctors,Public healthcare,Health workforce ...

'I need her to be a doctor': patients' experiences of presenting health information from the internet in GP consultations.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowes, Parvathy; Stevenson, Fiona; Ahluwalia, Sanjiv; Murray, Elizabeth

2012-11-01

Patients are increasingly using the internet for health-related information and may bring this to a GP consultation. There is scant information about why patients do this and what they expect from their GP. The aim was to explore patients' motivation in presenting information, their perception of the GP's response and what they wanted from their doctor. Qualitative study based in North London involving patients with experience of bringing health information from the internet to their GP. Semi-structured face-to-face and telephone interviews using a critical incident technique, recorded, transcribed verbatim, and subjected to thematic analysis by a multidisciplinary team of researchers. Twenty-six interviews were completed. Participants reported using the internet to become better informed about their health and hence make best use of the limited time available with the GP and to enable the GP to take their problem more seriously. Patients expected their GP to acknowledge the information; discuss, explain, or contextualise it; and offer a professional opinion. Patients tended to prioritise the GP opinion over the internet information. However, if the GP appeared disinterested, dismissive or patronising patients reported damage to the doctor-patient relationship, occasionally to the extent of seeking a second opinion or changing their doctor. This is the first in-depth qualitative study to explore why patients present internet information to their GP within the consultation and what they want when they do this. This information should help GPs respond appropriately in such circumstances.

The psychosocial impacts of implantation on the dental aesthetics of missing anterior teeth patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, P; Yu, S; Zhu, G

2012-12-01

The aim of the current study was to investigate the psychosocial impact of dental aesthetics among patients who received anterior implant-supported prostheses. The current study is a cross-sectional evaluation involving 115 individuals who had gone through treatment at the dental clinics of general hospitals. Participants completed the Chinese version of the psychosocial impact of dental aesthetics questionnaire (PIDAQ) before implantation and six months after crown restoration. Basic demographic information was recorded. Six months after implant crown restoration, participants were asked to self-assess their own oral aesthetics compared to before implantation. A total of 106 patients completed the study. PIDAQ scores correlated significantly with the self-assessment of the degree of oral aesthetics. Six months after crown restoration, the two factors (social impact and aesthetic attitude) decreased and the dental self-confidence score increased significantly compared to pre-implantation scores. Gender and education level significantly affected PIDAQ. Anterior implant-supported prostheses significantly affected the patients' psychosocial perception. Implantation of missing anterior teeth can significantly improve patients' negative psychosocial impact of dental aesthetics. Gender and education level are correlated with the degree of improvement. The PIDAQ can be used in assessing the psychosocial effects of implantation in missing anterior teeth.

IN URGENT NEED OF A DOCTOR

CERN Multimedia

Medical Service

2001-01-01

IN URGENT NEED OF A DOCTOR GENEVA EMERGENCY SERVICES GENEVA AND VAUD 144 FIRE BRIGADE 118 POLICE 117 CERN FIREMEN 767-44-44 ANTI-POISONS CENTRE Open 24h/24h 01-251-51-51 Patient not fit to be moved, call family doctor, or: GP AT HOME, open 24h/24h 748-49-50 Association Of Geneva Doctors Emergency Doctors at home 07h-23h 322 20 20 Patient fit to be moved: HOPITAL CANTONAL CENTRAL 24 Micheli-du-Crest 372-33-11 ou 382-33-11 EMERGENCIES 382-33-11 ou 372-33-11 CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL 6 rue Willy-Donzé 372-33-11 MATERNITY 32 bvd.de la Cluse 382-68-16 ou 382-33-11 OPHTHALMOLOGY 22 Alcide Jentzer 382-33-11 ou 372-33-11 MEDICAL CENTRE CORNAVIN 1-3 rue du Jura 345 45 50 HOPITAL DE LA TOUR Meyrin EMERGENCIES 719-61-11 URGENCES PEDIATRIQUES 719-61-00 LA TOUR MEDICAL CENTRE 719-74-00 European Emergency Call 112 FRANCE EMERGENCY SERVICES 15 FIRE BRIGADE 18 POLICE 17 CERN FIREMEN AT HOME 00-41-22-767-44-44 ANTI-POISONS CENTRE Open 24h/24h 04-72-11-69-11 All doctors ...

Village doctor-assisted case management of rural patients with schizophrenia: protocol for a cluster randomized control trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Wenjie; Xu, Dong; Zhou, Liang; Brown, Henry Shelton; Smith, Kirk L; Xiao, Shuiyuan

2014-01-16

Strict compliance with prescribed medication is the key to reducing relapses in schizophrenia. As villagers in China lack regular access to psychiatrists to supervise compliance, we propose to train village 'doctors' (i.e., villagers with basic medical training and currently operating in villages across China delivering basic clinical and preventive care) to manage rural patients with schizophrenia with respect to compliance and monitoring symptoms. We hypothesize that with the necessary training and proper oversight, village doctors can significantly improve drug compliance of villagers with schizophrenia. We will conduct a cluster randomized controlled trial in 40 villages in Liuyang, Hunan Province, China, home to approximately 400 patients with schizophrenia. Half of the villages will be randomized into the treatment group (village doctor, or VD model) wherein village doctors who have received training in a schizophrenia case management protocol will manage case records, supervise drug taking, educate patients and families on schizophrenia and its treatment, and monitor patients for signs of relapse in order to arrange prompt referral. The other 20 villages will be assigned to the control group (case as usual, or CAU model) wherein patients will be visited by psychiatrists every two months and receive free antipsychotic medications under an on-going government program, Project 686. These control patients will receive no other management or follow up from health workers. A baseline survey will be conducted before the intervention to gather data on patient's socio-economic status, drug compliance history, and clinical and health outcome measures. Data will be re-collected 6 and 12 months into the intervention. A difference-in-difference regression model will be used to detect the program effect on drug compliance and other outcome measures. A cost-effectiveness analysis will also be conducted to compare the value of the VD model to that of the CAU group. Lack of

The 'Dr Google' phenomenon--missed appendicitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Avery, Neil; Ghandi, Jamish; Keating, John

2012-12-14

Self-diagnosis has been around for many years. In today's society with free access to information, particularly through the Internet, it is more prominent than ever. With new information sources available to patients, doctors may have their diagnostic process influenced. This is the case of a gentleman who self-diagnosed, and subsequently influenced his doctor's diagnostic process, with results detrimental to his outcome. It illustrates the importance of awareness of the risks of self diagnosis, and management of patients who present with information and preconceived ideas regarding their condition.

Differences between patient and physician opinions on adherence to medication for hypertension and diabetes mellitus.

Science.gov (United States)

Liguori, Yuji; Murase, Katsuhito; Hamamura, Misako

2016-09-01

Non-adherence to prescribed medication presents a barrier to effective treatment. In order to find improved ways of tackling non-adherence, it is important to understand the perspective of both patients and physicians. A web-based survey study was performed to obtain the views and opinions of patients receiving medical treatment for hypertension or diabetes mellitus in Japan, and physicians treating such patients, on adherence to medication. Forty-four percent of both physicians and patients placed great importance on medication adherence, but 11% of patients considered it of low importance. Overall, 85% of patients reported taking their medication correctly. Patients missed a mean of 4.8 or 5.4 daily doses per 30 day prescription based on patient and physician estimates, respectively. Both patients (64%) and physicians (23%) considered the main reason patients forgot to take their medication was that they "inadvertently forgot". Only 1% of physicians said they do not specifically check for residual drugs, but 46% of patients said they do not report missed doses to their doctor. Measures taken by physicians to reduce residual drugs included use of single packs (64%) and reductions in administration frequency (55%); 63% adjusted prescriptions to take account of any remaining drugs. Only 4% of physicians were satisfied with the effectiveness of measures to reduce non-adherence, whereas 59% of patients felt they managed to successfully perform measures to avoid forgetting to take drugs. The study questionnaires were newly developed and did not incorporate validated instruments to assess adherence. Similar proportions of physicians and patients consider medication adherence to be important, but their opinions about measures used to improve adherence differ to some extent. Importantly, almost half of patients do not tell their doctor about missed doses.

Study on doctor shopping behavior: insight from patients with upper respiratory tract infection in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ming-Jye; Lin, Shu-Ping

2010-01-01

Based on the actual medical records of ambulatory care visits, this study analyzed patients' healthcare seeking behavior and doctor shopping behavior (DSB), and investigated the underlying factors and the impact on the depletion of the healthcare resources for health policy makers to build a better health delivery system. Among a cohort comprised of 200,000 patients randomly chosen from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan in 2004, only the patients seeking ambulatory care visits for upper respiratory tract infection (URI) were analyzed. Among the 45,951 URI patients, 2875 of them exhibited DSB (prevalence 6.3%). The DSB showed a reverse U-shaped relationship with the patient age (the highest DSB in age 18-34 years). The episodes of the URI had a negative impact on the DSB. The odds ratios of gender and the frequency of consultation versus DSB were 1.10 and 4.72, respectively, and the depletion of days of medication and repeat prescription increased with doctor shopping. Health education to raise DSB awareness is necessary, especially for female's age 18-34 years. Implementing a proper referral system with efficient data exchange, setting up control parameters in the IC cards, and strengthening the integrated care plan could reduce the unnecessary waste of the healthcare resources.

Suicide in doctors and wives of doctors.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakinofsky, I

1980-06-01

This paper re-examines the widespread belief that doctors have a proneness for suicide greater than the general population. The Standardized Mortality Ratio for male physicians is 335 and for single women doctors 257. Doctors' wives have an even greater risk: their SMR is 458. These rates for doctors are higher than for most other professional groups (except pharmacists) and the rate for doctors' wives far exceeds that for wives of other professionals. The intrinsic causes of the physician's high occupational mortality include his knowledge of toxicology and ready access to lethal drugs, so that impulsive suicide is more often successful. Professional stress and overwork, particularly the unrelenting responsibility for decisions upon which the lives of others may depend, have been inculpated. These stresses interact with the decline in the doctors' self-respect and with a personality that is prestige-oriented and independent. Some physicians turn in their frustration to alcohol/and or drugs, accelerating the process of deterioration. The high suicide rate in doctors' wives appears to be the result of unrequited needs for caring and dependency which the doctors' career demands and personality deny them.

What am I going to say here? The experiences of doctors and nurses communicating with patients in a cancer unit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margaret eMcLean

2011-11-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a study investigating the provider-patient communication perceptions, experiences, needs and strategies of doctors and nurses working together in a UK cancer setting. This was a qualitative study using individual interviews and focus group discussions. Interpretative Phenomenological analysis (IPA was used to underpin data collection and analysis. Twenty-six staff participated in the project (18 nurses and 8 doctors. Both professional groups identified an inherent emotional strain in their daily interactions with patients. The strategies they adopted to reduce this strain fell into two main categories: 1 Handling or managing the patient to keep negative emotion at bay; and 2 Managing self to keep negative emotion at bay. These strategies allowed staff to maintain a sense of control in an emotionally-stressful environment. Most believed that their communication skills were sufficient. In conclusion, communicating with and caring for cancer patients causes considerable psycho-social burden for doctors and nurses. Managing this burden influences their communication with patients. Without recognition of the need for staff to protect their own emotional well-being, communication skills training programmes, emphasised in current UK cancer care guidelines, may have little impact on practice.

Differences in Simulated Doctor and Patient Medical Decision Making: A Construal Level Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yan; Liu, Quanhui; Miao, Danmin; Xiao, Wei

2013-01-01

Background Patients are often confronted with diverse medical decisions. Often lacking relevant medical knowledge, patients fail to independently make medical decisions and instead generally rely on the advice of doctors. Objective This study investigated the characteristics of and differences in doctor–patient medical decision making on the basis of construal level theory. Methods A total of 420 undergraduates majoring in clinical medicine were randomly assigned to six groups. Their decisions to opt for radiotherapy and surgery were investigated, with the choices described in a positive/neutral/negative frame × decision making for self/others. Results Compared with participants giving medical advice to patients, participants deciding for themselves were more likely to select radiotherapy (F1, 404 = 13.92, p = 011). Participants from positive or neutral frames exhibited a higher tendency to choose surgery than did those from negative frames (F2, 404 = 22.53, peffect of framing on independent decision making was nonsignificant (F2, 404 = 1.07, p = 35); however the effect of framing on the provision of advice to patients was significant (F2, 404 = 12.95, peffect of construal level was significant in the positive frame (F1, 404 = 8.06, p = 005) and marginally significant in the neutral frame (F2, 404 = 3.31, p = 07) but nonsignificant in the negative frame (F2, 404 = .29, p = 59). Conclusion Both social distance and framing depiction significantly affected medical decision making and exhibited a significant interaction. Differences in medical decision making between doctors and patients need further investigation. PMID:24244445

The doctor as businessman: the changing politics of a cultural icon.

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, D A

1997-04-01

From just after the Civil War, when medicine began to professionalize, until the late 1970s, doctors and policy makers believed that clinical judgment should not be influenced by the financial interests of doctors. Physicians were highly entrepreneurial, and organized medicine fought to preserve their entrepreneurial interests, but the moral norm that justified their autonomy from state regulation was a strict separation of clinical judgment and pecuniary interests. Under managed care, the old norm is reversed. A good doctor takes financial considerations into account in making clinical decisions. Theoretically, doctors should consider measures of cost to society, but in practice, the payment systems of managed care plans induce doctors to consider the impact of each clinical decision on their own income. Because doctors share the risks of insuring patients with managed care plans, they have the same incentives as insurers to avoid patients who are expensively sick. The new cultural image of doctors as entrepreneurs masks their considerable loss of clinical autonomy under managed care. It also serves to persuade doctors to accept managed care arrangements and to persuade insurance consumers and patients to accept reduced benefits from employers and the government.

Predictors of Satisfaction With Doctor and Nurse Communication: A National Study.

Science.gov (United States)

McFarland, Daniel C; Johnson Shen, Megan; Holcombe, Randall F

2017-10-01

Prior research indicates that effective communication between medical providers and patients is associated with a number of positive patient outcomes, yet little research has examined how ecological factors (e.g., hospital size, local demographics) influence patients' reported satisfaction with doctor and nurse communication. Given the current emphasis on improving patient satisfaction in hospitals across the United States, understanding these factors is critical to interpreting patient satisfaction and improving patient-centered communication, particularly in diverse and dense populations. As such, this study examined county-level data including population density, population diversity, and hospital structural factors as predictors of patient satisfaction with doctor and nurse communication. Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS), U.S. Census data, and number of hospital beds were obtained from publicly available Hospital Compare, U.S. Census, and American Hospital Directory websites, respectively. Multivariate regression modeling was performed for the individual dimensions of HCAHPS scores assessing doctor and nurse communication. Standardized partial regression coefficients were used to assess strengths of county-level predictors. County-level factors accounted for 30% and 16% of variability in patient satisfaction with doctor and nurse communication, respectively. College education (β = 0.45) and White ethnicity (β = 0.25) most strongly predicted a favorable rating of doctor and nurse communication, respectively. Primary language (non-English speaking; β = -0.50) most strongly predicted an unfavorable rating of doctor communication, while number of hospital beds (β = -0.16) and foreign-born (β = -0.16) most strongly predicted an unfavorable rating of nurse communication. County-level predictors should be considered when interpreting patient satisfaction with doctor and nurse communication and designing

Missing Teeth and Prosthetic Treatment in Patients Treated at College of Dentistry, University of Dammam

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shaimaa M. Fouda

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The percentage of completely and partially edentulous patients and their prosthetic treatment at the Department of Substitutive Dental Sciences (SDS, College of Dentistry, University of Dammam, were investigated. Panoramic radiographs and medical records of adult patients (n=479, mean age 45.9 years, and range 25–96 years treated in 2011–2014 were examined. 6% of the patients were completely edentulous, 8% had single jaw edentulousness, and 74% were partially edentulous. Edentulousness was significantly correlated with age and the number of missing teeth was significantly higher among males (p<0.026. Diabetes was significantly associated with complete edentulousness, single edentulous jaw (p value 0.015, and partial edentulousness (p value 0.023. Kennedy class III was the most frequent class of partial edentulousness in single and/or both jaws (p=0.000. Patients having class I and/or class II were treated most often with removable partial dentures (RPD (p=0.000, while patients having class III were treated with fixed partial dentures (FPD. It was found that complete edentulousness increases in older age and the number of missing teeth was significantly higher among males. Kennedy class III was most common in both upper and lower jaw and was treated more often with FPD than with RPD.

University strategy for doctoral training: the Ghent University Doctoral Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Bracke, N; Moens, L

2010-01-01

The Doctoral Schools at Ghent University have a three-fold mission: (1) to provide support to doctoral students during their doctoral research, (2) to foster a quality culture in (doctoral) research, (3) to promote the international and social stature and prestige of the doctorate vis-a-vis potential researchers and the potential labour market. The Doctoral Schools offer top-level specialized courses and transferable skills training to doctoral students as part of their doctoral training programme. They establish mechanisms of quality assurance in doctoral research. The Doctoral Schools initialize and support initiatives of internationalization. They also organize information sessions, promotional events and interaction with the labour market, and as such keep a finger on the pulse of external stakeholders.

Doctor-patient relationships (DPR) in China: managers and clinicians’ twofold pathways from commitment HR practices

OpenAIRE

Ma, S.; Xu, X.; Trigo, V.; Ramalho, N. J. C.

2017-01-01

Purpose: The first objective of this research is to develop and test theory on how commitment human resource (HR) practices affect hospital professionals’ job satisfaction that motivates them to generate desirable patient care and subsequently improve doctor-patient relationships (DPR). The second objective is to examine how commitment HR practices influence in different ways hospital managers and clinicians. Methodology: Using a cross-sectional survey, data were collect from 508 clinicians a...

Women who doctor shop for prescription drugs.

Science.gov (United States)

Worley, Julie; Thomas, Sandra P

2014-04-01

Doctor shopping is a term used to describe a form of diversion of prescription drugs when patients visit numerous prescribers to obtain controlled drugs for illicit use. Gender differences exist in regard to prescription drug abuse and methods of diversion. The purpose of this phenomenological study guided by the existential philosophy of Merleau-Ponty was to understand the lived experience of female doctor shoppers. Interviews were conducted with 14 women, which were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. Included in the findings are figural aspects of the participants' experience of doctor shopping related to the existential grounds of world, time, body, and others. Four themes emerged from the data: (a) feeding the addiction, (b) networking with addicts, (c) playing the system, and (d) baiting the doctors. The findings suggest several measures that nurses can take to reduce the incidence of doctor shopping and to provide better care for female doctor shoppers.

[Nurse-doctor relationships, reflection of our society].

Science.gov (United States)

Rothier Bautzer, Eliane

Relations between nurses and doctors are a paradigmatic example of the tensions produced by the process of empowerment over the course of the 20th century. The techniques, health policies, organisation of care and the place of the patient within the health system together contribute to the reconfiguration of the partnership relationship between nurses and doctors. These relationships help to define those that these professionals establish with their patients. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Through doctors' eyes: A qualitative study of hospital doctor perspectives on their working conditions.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

McGowan, Yvonne

2013-03-11

BACKGROUND: Hospital doctors face significant challenges in the current health care environment, working with staff shortages and cutbacks to health care expenditure, alongside increased demand for health care and increased public expectations. OBJECTIVE: This article analyses challenges faced by junior hospital doctors, providing insight into the experiences of these frontline staff in delivering health services in recessionary times. DESIGN: A qualitative methodology was chosen. METHODS: Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 doctors from urban Irish hospitals. Interviews were recorded via note taking. Full transcripts were analysed thematically using NVivo software. RESULTS: Dominant themes included the following: (1) unrealistic workloads: characterised by staff shortages, extended working hours, irregular and frequently interrupted breaks; (2) fatigue and its impact: the quality of care provided to patients while doctors were sleep-deprived was questioned; however, little reflection was given to any impact this may have had on junior doctors own health; (3) undervalued and disillusioned: insufficient training, intensive workloads and a perceived lack of power to influence change resulted in a sense of detachment among junior doctors. They appeared immune to their surroundings. CONCLUSION: Respondents ascribed little importance to the impact of current working conditions on their own health. They felt their roles were underappreciated and undervalued by policy makers and hospital management. Respondents were concerned with the lack of time and opportunity for training. This study highlighted several \\'red flags\\

When may doctors give nurses telephonic treatment instructions?

African Journals Online (AJOL)

When is it legal for doctors to give nurses telephonic treatment instructions? ... telemedicine? Telemedicine is defined as 'the practice of medicine, from a distance, ... [6] Therefore, if in such circumstances the doctors cannot reach the patients in ...

Doctor-patient communication skills training in mainland China: a systematic review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xinchun; Rohrer, Wesley; Luo, Aijing; Fang, Zhou; He, TianHua; Xie, Wenzhao

2015-01-01

To conduct a systematic review of studies on doctor-patient communication skills training (CST) for medical students and physicians in mainland China. We retrieved articles from six electronic databases, and searched additional eligible papers by checking reference lists. Chinese or English-language studies focused on CST and implemented in mainland China were applied to the pre-determined criteria. Articles included were further reviewed under the following categories: participant; training strategy; assessment; and outcome. 20 studies met the inclusion criteria. 90% of the CST improved trainees' communication skills using a strategy which included a didactic component combined with practical rehearsal and feedback. The duration of training varied substantially. A lack of enhancement in empathy, and the use of open-ended questions were reported. 83% of the assessment instruments were self-designed and most lacked reliability and validity testing. Only two of the included studies evaluated patient satisfaction. The majority of included studies attained statistically significant improvements. Chinese doctors and medical students' communication skills can be enhanced through CST. Future studies in China should place stronger emphasis on the development of training strategies, validation of the assessment instruments, and evaluation of patient satisfaction affected by CST. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Life conditions of Togolese doctors].

Science.gov (United States)

Koffi-Tessio, Annick Viwalé; Oniankitan, Owonayo; Mijiyawa, Moustafa

2010-09-01

A study has been carried out by Togolese medical doctors in order to determine the perceived and the real life of their profession. The study, which was transversal, has taken in account a sample of 52 medical doctors made on the basis of a cautious choice. Most of these medical doctors (15 general practitioners, 23 specialists and 14 hospitalo-universitaires) work in the medical cares centres of Lomé. A sheet of survey has permitted the collection of demographic data and data relating to the medical studies and career. The 52 medical doctors included in the study (7 women, 45 men) were between 25 and 59 years old; their age of getting their A-level was between 16 and 23 years old, and that of getting the doctorate diploma between 24 and 37. The length of professional experience stands between 8 months and 27 years. The marital status was specified by 47 of the 52 medical doctors: 13 single, one divorced, and 33 married; 5 of the 7 women who took part in the survey were single and without any child. The love of the profession (65%), the social status it confers (37%) and the honour tied to the profession (27%) were the main motives of choosing the profession. The decision of doing medical studies was taken during secondary studies by 45 of the 52 persons. The faculty of medicine of Lomé has been the study frame to general medicine studies of 35 persons (67%). The low payment (83%), the poverty of the patients (83%), the narrowness of the technical platform (79%), the insufficiency of cares structures in paramedical personnel (67%), the insufficiency of continuing education (60%), and the lack or insufficiency of drugs (58%) were the main problems encountered during their professional experience by the people questioned. 22 medical doctors (43%) have estimated that their profession has given them a particular social status. Only 8 medical doctors have found that the real things they have gone trough in the profession matches with the idea they had, while 32 (62

Parent's use of the Internet in the search for healthcare information and subsequent impact on the doctor-patient relationship.

Science.gov (United States)

Harvey, S; Memon, A; Khan, R; Yasin, F

2017-11-01

The Internet is an unavoidable source of healthcare information. This information, both reliable and unreliable, has previously been shown to influence carer's decisions. Our aim was to evaluate this information seeking behavior among parents and its subsequent potential impact on the doctor-patient relationship. We undertook a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey of paediatric outpatients. Enrollment took place over 4 weeks in March 2015. There were no inclusion or exclusion criteria and enrollment was voluntary. In total 100 questionnaires were completed. General Practitioners were the most common source of healthcare information. The Internet ranked third as a reliable source of healthcare information. The Internet was commonly used as an educational resource to learn about causes, treatment, and medications. A significant percentage of our population expressed concern regarding Internet information reliability. A small percentage of parents were concerned that disclosing Internet usage may worsen the relationship with their doctor. Parents showed a willingness to learn about diseases and treatments, and felt that the Internet was a good resource to do so. This study shows that open discussion about Internet usage between parents and doctors is not common and carers feel at risk of judgment should they admit to Internet usage. The Internet should be seen as a positive adjunct to patient education which can improve understanding, thus strengthening the doctor-patient relationship. The Internet will never replace the role of healthcare professionals but must be seen as an integral part of a multi-disciplinary approach.

Continuing Medical Education for European General Practitioners in Doctor-Patient Relationship Skills and Psychosocial Issues.

Science.gov (United States)

Barker, L. Randol

1998-01-01

Most of the 23 European providers of continuing medical education (CME) surveyed reported programming on the doctor-patient relationship and psychosocial issues. Visits to programs in France, the Netherlands, and Spain identified the formats used most often in small group instruction, intensive individual learning, and national-level CME. (SK)

RELATION OF DOCTORS AND PATIENTS TO TREATMENT OF THE ILLNESS AS SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEM (ON THE EXAMPLE OF TREATMENT OF AN ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. V. Fomina

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Article is devoted to the analysis of a problem of the attitude of patients and doctors to treatment of an illness from a position of medical and socio-psychological approaches on the example of the most widespread in population disease, which is very difficult to treat - an arterial hypertension. The article describes the features of the attitude to an illness of the men and women sick with an arterial hypertension. It is noted that despite the progress in medical technologies, the consciousness of the patient changes extremely slowly and he is still dependent on the doctor, waiting for his leading and guiding assistance. The possibility of purposeful impact of the doctor on development of a responsible position of the patient in relation to an illness and its treatment, and also ways of involvement of patients to adoption of the medical decision is discussed. As a result of empirical research it is established that the active attitude of the patient to an illness and its treatment (compliance with therapy is formed when the doctor is ready to build with him dialogical, the subject - the subject relations.

Doctors' perspectives on the barriers to appropriate prescribing in older hospitalized patients: A qualitative study.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Cullinan, S

2014-11-18

Older patients commonly suffer from multimorbidites and take multiple medications. As a result, these patients are more vulnerable to potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP). PIP in older patients may result in adverse drug events and hospitalisations. However, little has been done to identify why PIP occurs. The objectives of this study were; (1) to identify hospital doctors\\' perceptions as to why PIP occurs, (2) to identify the barriers to addressing the issues identified, and (3) to determine which intervention types would be best suited to improving prescribing.

Barriers to HIV Care and Treatment by Doctors: A review of the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

As a result many doctors were reluctant to provide care to HIV infected patients and homophobia amongst doctors, fear of contact with patients and unwillingness to care were frequently reported.2 However, there has been an exponential increase in the number of HIV and AIDS related cases and more doctors are ...

PERSONAL MARKETING OF DOCTORS IN THE CONTEXT OF SOCIAL NETWORKS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Corina Anamaria IOAN

2014-12-01

Full Text Available More than ever doctors are beginning to recognize that beyond impeccable professionalism shown to the patient, equally imports became part of communication, and in one century of the Internet, the most effective communication process moves online, in the social networks. It is important for doctors to develop a personal brand because a reputation, passed with internet speed can only have a positive effect. In a century in which patients make the decision to see a particular doctor, largely based on recommendations and research the forums online discussions, doctors are beginning realize the importance of a strong presence, constant and reliable environment through online networks social priority.

Remarks on the Problem of Informed Consent in Japan : The doctor-Patient Relationship and Implicit Personality Theory

OpenAIRE

丸山, 久美子

1998-01-01

In Japan it is very difficult to investigate the matter of telling the truth to terminally-ill cancer patients or to obtain informed consent from patients. The reason is that there is no consensus about obtaining informed consent from terminally-ill cancer patients or other dying patients. In this study a questionnaire was used regarding cancer notification, informed consent, and the impressions formed of doctors and nurses by various kinds of patients. University students were surveyed regar...

Chronically ill Canadians’ experiences of being unattached to a family doctor: a qualitative study of marginalized patients in British Columbia

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Crooks Valorie A

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Unattached patients do not have a regular primary care provider. Initiatives are being developed to increase attachment rates across Canada. Most existing attention paid to patient unattachment has focused on quantifying the problem and health system costs. Our purpose is to qualitatively identify the implications of chronically ill patients’ experiences of unattachment for health policy and planning to provide policy-relevant insights for Canadian attachment initiatives. Methods Three focus groups were conducted with marginalized chronically ill individuals residing in a mid-sized city in British Columbia who are unattached to a family doctor. We use the term marginalized as a descriptor to acknowledge that by virtue of their low socio-economic status and lack of attachment the participants are marginalized in Canada’s health care system Focus groups were structured as an open conversation organized around a series of probing questions. They were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was employed. Results Twenty-six individuals participated in the focus groups. The most common chronic illnesses reported were active drug addiction or recovery (and their associated symptoms, depression, arthritis, and hepatitis C. Participants identified life transitions as being the root cause for not having a family doctor. There was a strong sense that unsuccessful attempts to get a family doctor reflected that they were undesirable patients. Participants wanted to experience having a trusting relationship with a regular family doctor as they believed it would encourage greater honesty and transparency. One of the main health concerns regarding lack of access to a regular family doctor is that participants lacked access to preventative care. Participants were also concerned about having a discontinuous medical record due to unattachment. Conclusions Participants perceived that there are many benefits to be had

Encountering hysteria: doctors' and patients' perspectives on hysteria in Denmark, 1875-1918.

Science.gov (United States)

Møllerhøj, Jette

2009-06-01

The history of hysteria stretches over several millennia and contains a plethora of different understandings and interpretations. This paper focuses on a central part of its Danish history, from the last decades of the nineteenth-century 'age of nervousness' until the end of World War I. It is argued that the understanding and negotiation of hysteria and its explanations took place in a complex interaction between doctors and their patients. Whereas the psychiatrists during this period moved towards an understanding of hysteria as a functional disorder, the patients, of whom approximately one-third were male, maintained that their illness was of somatic origin, and closely related to social, economic and working conditions.

Associations between emotional intelligence and doctor burnout, job satisfaction and patient satisfaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Weng, Hui-Ching; Hung, Chao-Ming; Liu, Yi-Tien; Cheng, Yu-Jen; Yen, Cheng-Yo; Chang, Chi-Chang; Huang, Chih-Kun

2011-08-01

The occupational health literature has long been dominated by stress-related topics. A more contemporary perspective suggests using a positive approach in the form of a health model focused on what is right with people, such as feelings of well-being and satisfaction. Using a positive perspective and multi-source data collection, this study investigated the inter-relationships among emotional intelligence (EI), patient satisfaction, doctor burnout and job satisfaction. In this observational study, 110 internists and 2872 out-patients were surveyed in face-to-face interviews. Higher self-rated EI was significantly associated with less burnout (pdefinition of EI and the construct validity of EI as rated by others require further examination. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2011.

Doctor-patient relationships (DPR) in China.

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Ma, Shaozhuang; Xu, Xuehu; Trigo, Virginia; Ramalho, Nelson J C

2017-03-20

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to develop and test theory on how commitment human resource (HR) practices affect hospital professionals' job satisfaction that motivates them to generate desirable patient care and subsequently improve doctor-patient relationships (DPR) and second, to examine how commitment HR practices influence hospital managers and clinicians in different ways. Design/methodology/approach Using a cross-sectional survey, the authors collected data from 508 clinicians and hospital managers from 33 tertiary public hospitals in China. Structural equation model was employed to test the relationships of the variables in the study. Findings Commitment HR practices positively affect the job satisfaction of the healthcare professionals surveyed and a positive relationship is perceived between job satisfaction and DPR. Overall, the model shows a reversal on the strongest path linking job satisfaction and DPR whereby managers' main association operates through extrinsic job satisfaction while for clinicians it occurs through intrinsic satisfaction only. Practical implications DPR might be improved by applying commitment HR practices to increase healthcare professional's intrinsic and extrinsic satisfaction. In addition, while recognizing the importance of compensation and benefits to address the underpayment issue of Chinese healthcare professionals, empowerment and autonomy in work, and the use of subjects' expertise and skills may serve as stronger motivators for clinicians rather than hard economic incentives in achieving DPR improvements. Originality/value This study contributes to the small but growing body of research on human resource management (HRM) in the healthcare sector with new evidence supporting the link between commitment HR practice and work attitudes, as well as work attitudes and patient care from the perspective of clinicians and hospital managers. This study represents an initial attempt to examine the associations

The Impact of the Nursing Practice Environment on Missed Nursing Care.

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Hessels, Amanda J; Flynn, Linda; Cimiotti, Jeannie P; Cadmus, Edna; Gershon, Robyn R M

2015-12-01

Missed nursing care is an emerging problem negatively impacting patient outcomes. There are gaps in our knowledge of factors associated with missed nursing care. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the nursing practice environment and missed nursing care in acute care hospitals. This is a secondary analysis of cross sectional data from a survey of over 7.000 nurses from 70 hospitals on workplace and process of care. Ordinary least squares and multiple regression models were constructed to examine the relationship between the nursing practice environment and missed nursing care while controlling for characteristics of nurses and hospitals. Nurses missed delivering a significant amount of necessary patient care (10-27%). Inadequate staffing and inadequate resources were the practice environment factors most strongly associated with missed nursing care events. This multi-site study examined the risk and risk factors associated with missed nursing care. Improvements targeting modifiable risk factors may reduce the risk of missed nursing care.

Attitudes towards euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide among Pakistani and Indian doctors: A survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Syed Qamar Abbas

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Aim: This study attempts to assess the attitude of Pakistani and Indian doctors to euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Methods: We used a questionnaire survey that included one case history of a patient with cancer and another of one suffering from motor neurone disease (MND. Results: Fifty-two of 100 doctors from Pakistan returned the completed questionnaires. Eight of the 52 (15.3% doctors agreed with the concept of euthanasia being an acceptable option for the patient with MND. Six of the 52 (11.5% supported a similar approach for the cancer patient. From India, 60/100 doctors returned the completed questionnaires. Sixteen of the 60 (26.6% doctors supported euthanasia as an option for the patient with MND whereas 15 (25% supported a similar option for the cancer patient. Conclusion: We conclude that only a minority of the doctors support euthanasia. This group belongs to a younger age group. In Pakistan, they were more likely to be males. The religion of the doctors did not appear to be a determining factor.

Knowledge, awareness and practice of ethics among doctors in tertiary care hospital.

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Singh, Surjit; Sharma, Pramod Kumar; Bhandari, Bharti; Kaur, Rimplejeet

2016-10-01

With the advancement of healthcare and medical research, doctors need to be aware of the basic ethical principles. This cross-sectional study is an attempt to assess the knowledge, awareness, and practice of health-care ethics among health-care professionals. After taking written informed consent, a standard questionnaire was administered to 117 doctors. No personal information was recorded on the questionnaire so as to ensure the confidentiality and anonymity of participants. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 21 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Statistically significant difference observed between the opinions of consultant and senior resident (SRs) on issues like, adherence to confidentiality; paternalistic attitude of doctors (doctors should do their best for the patient irrespective of patient's opinion); doctor's decision should be final in case of disagreement and interest in learning ethics ( P patient wishes, informing patient regarding wrongdoing, informing close relatives, seeking consent for children and patients' consent for procedures. Furthermore, no significant difference observed between the two with respect to the practice of health-care ethics. Surprisingly, the response of clinical and nonclinical faculty did not differ as far as awareness and practice of ethics were concerned. The significant difference is observed in the knowledge, awareness, and practice of ethics among consultants and SRs. Conferences, symposium, and workshops, on health-care ethics, may act as a means of sensitizing doctors and thus will help to bridge this gap and protect the well-being and confidentiality of the patients. Such an effort may bring about harmonious change in the doctor-patient relationship.

Do doctors attending sexual-offence victims have to notify sexual ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2017-12-03

Dec 3, 2017 ... the Sexual Offences Act);[1] and (iii) the ethical rules and guidelines ... and the duty on doctors to treat their patients with the skill and care ... duty on the doctor to counsel the patient to warn such partner and to ... persons may suffer injury as a result of interactions with their patients, and that this applies to.

Stress and wellbeing of junior doctors in Australia: a comparison with American doctors and population norms

OpenAIRE

Soares, Deanne S.; Chan, Lewis

2016-01-01

Background Stress in doctors adversely affects decision-making, memory, information-recall and attention, thereby negatively impacting upon the provision of safe and high quality patient care. As such, stress in doctors has been subject to increasing scientific scrutiny and has amassed greater public awareness in recent years. The aims of this study are to describe stress levels and the psychological wellbeing of current junior medical officers (JMOs), and to compare this to their predecessor...

The Doctor and Society*

African Journals Online (AJOL)

the pressure of his own discipline he should be an edu- cated person in the ... found and multiform influence on social norms and human .destiny. The paths of ... This broad approach is fundamental to a sound doctor- patient relationship.

Doctors discussing religion and spirituality: A systematic literature review.

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Best, Megan; Butow, Phyllis; Olver, Ian

2016-04-01

Discussion of religion and/or spirituality in the medical consultation is desired by patients and known to be beneficial. However, it is infrequent. We aimed to identify why this is so. We set out to answer the following research questions: Do doctors report that they ask their patients about religion and/or spirituality and how do they do it? According to doctors, how often do patients raise the issue of religion and/or spirituality in consultation and how do doctors respond when they do? What are the known facilitators and barriers to doctors asking their patients about religion and/or spirituality? A mixed qualitative/quantitative review was conducted to identify studies exploring the physician's perspective on discussion of religion and/or spirituality in the medical consultation. We searched nine databases from inception to January 2015 for original research papers reporting doctors' views on discussion of religion and/or spirituality in medical consultations. Papers were assessed for quality using QualSyst and results were reported using a measurement tool to assess systematic review guidelines. Overall, 61 eligible papers were identified, comprising over 20,044 physician reports. Religion and spirituality are discussed infrequently by physicians although frequency increases with terminal illness. Many physicians prefer chaplain referral to discussing religion and/or spirituality with patients themselves. Such discussions are facilitated by prior training and increased physician religiosity and spirituality. Insufficient time and training were the most frequently reported barriers. This review found that physician enquiry into the religion and/or spirituality of patients is inconsistent in frequency and nature and that in order to meet patient needs, barriers to discussion need to be overcome. © The Author(s) 2015.

The missed diagnosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bundy, A.L.

1988-01-01

One of the questions that haunts the radiologist as he shuffles through piles of films is ''What am I missing?'' This same question takes on even more meaning when the radiologist is pressed for time, when he reluctantly checks the night work of the resident, when the patient left before more or better films could be obtained; or when the radiologist is involved in a subspecialty in which he is not properly trained. According to Dr. Berlin's survey, the missed diagnosis category accounted for the largest number of radiology malpractice cases. We all know that many diagnoses are more easily made using the ''retrospectoscope.'' But is the plaintiff attorney also adept at using this instrument? Just how knowledgeable must the radiologist be in the use of the ''prospectoscope''? A familiarity with cases that have already been tried should at least alert radiologists to the chances of their own involvement in litigation. While the missed diagnosis is by no means peculiar to the radiologist, it is one of the principal reasons that he may find himself in court

A qualitative study of sexual harassment of female doctors by patients.

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Schneider, M; Phillips, S P

1997-09-01

This paper reports the qualitative data from a study of sexual harassment of female family physicians by patients. In addition to the everyday harassment that any woman might encounter in a work setting, the physicians in this study also reported types of harassment which are unique to the practice of medicine. These include opportunistic harassment such as exposure of the genitals, inappropriately touching the physician when the examination requires close contact, excessive discussion of sexual matters for apparent erotic gratification, and acting out behaviours from non-competent patients. Other reported behaviours were not, strictly speaking, sexual harassment but were troublesome nonetheless, including spontaneous erections during physical examinations, physically intimidating behaviour, and ambiguous behaviours which were sexual in nature, but difficult to interpret. The findings are discussed in the context of theory pertaining to contrapower harassment. It is concluded that for some patients the gender of the physician takes precedence over her occupational status and, this combined with the unique characteristics of the doctor/patient relationship, can make the practice of family medicine more conductive to sexual harassment than other professions.

Application of 3D Printing in the Surgical Planning of Trimalleolar Fracture and Doctor-Patient Communication

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Long Yang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available To evaluate the effect of 3D printing in treating trimalleolar fractures and its roles in physician-patient communication, thirty patients with trimalleolar fractures were randomly divided into the 3D printing assisted-design operation group (Group A and the no-3D printing assisted-design group (Group B. In Group A, 3D printing was used by the surgeons to produce a prototype of the actual fracture to guide the surgical treatment. All patients underwent open reduction and internal fixation. A questionnaire was designed for doctors and patients to verify the verisimilitude and effectiveness of the 3D-printed prototype. Meanwhile, the operation time and the intraoperative blood loss were compared between the two groups. The fracture prototypes were accurately printed, and the average overall score of the verisimilitude and effectiveness of the 3D-printed prototypes was relatively high. Both the operation time and the intraoperative blood loss in Group A were less than those in Group B (P<0.05. Patient satisfaction using the 3D-printed prototype and the communication score were 9.3±0.6 points. A 3D-printed prototype can faithfully reflect the anatomy of the fracture site; it can effectively help the doctors plan the operation and represent an effective tool for physician-patient communication.

Assessment of score- and Rasch-based methods for group comparison of longitudinal patient-reported outcomes with intermittent missing data (informative and non-informative).

Science.gov (United States)

de Bock, Élodie; Hardouin, Jean-Benoit; Blanchin, Myriam; Le Neel, Tanguy; Kubis, Gildas; Sébille, Véronique

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify the most adequate strategy for group comparison of longitudinal patient-reported outcomes in the presence of possibly informative intermittent missing data. Models coming from classical test theory (CTT) and item response theory (IRT) were compared. Two groups of patients' responses to dichotomous items with three times of assessment were simulated. Different cases were considered: presence or absence of a group effect and/or a time effect, a total of 100 or 200 patients, 4 or 7 items and two different values for the correlation coefficient of the latent trait between two consecutive times (0.4 or 0.9). Cases including informative and non-informative intermittent missing data were compared at different rates (15, 30 %). These simulated data were analyzed with CTT using score and mixed model (SM) and with IRT using longitudinal Rasch mixed model (LRM). The type I error, the power and the bias of the group effect estimations were compared between the two methods. This study showed that LRM performs better than SM. When the rate of missing data rose to 30 %, estimations were biased with SM mainly for informative missing data. Otherwise, LRM and SM methods were comparable concerning biases. However, regardless of the rate of intermittent missing data, power of LRM was higher compared to power of SM. In conclusion, LRM should be favored when the rate of missing data is higher than 15 %. For other cases, SM and LRM provide similar results.

Association of the Nurse Work Environment, Collective Efficacy, and Missed Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Jessica G; Morin, Karen H; Wallace, Leigh E; Lake, Eileen T

2018-06-01

Missed nursing care is a significant threat to quality patient care. Promoting collective efficacy within nurse work environments could decrease missed care. The purpose was to understand how missed care is associated with nurse work environments and collective efficacy of hospital staff nurses. A cross-sectional, convenience sample was obtained through online surveys from registered nurses working at five southwestern U.S. hospitals. Descriptive, correlational, regression, and path analyses were conducted ( N = 233). The percentage of nurses who reported that at least one care activity was missed frequently or always was 94%. Mouth care (36.0% of nurses) and ambulation (35.3%) were missed frequently or always. Nurse work environments and collective efficacy were moderately, positively correlated. Nurse work environments and collective efficacy were associated with less missed care (χ 2 = 10.714, p = .0054). Fostering collective efficacy in the nurse work environment could reduce missed care and improve patient outcomes.

Engaging Terminally Ill Patients in End of Life Talk: How Experienced Palliative Medicine Doctors Navigate the Dilemma of Promoting Discussions about Dying

OpenAIRE

Pino, Marco; Parry, Ruth; Land, Victoria; Faull, Christina; Feathers, Luke; Seymour, Jane

2016-01-01

Objective\\ud To examine how palliative medicine doctors engage patients in end-of-life (hereon, EoL)\\ud talk. To examine whether the practice of “eliciting and responding to cues”, which has been\\ud widely advocated in the EoL care literature, promotes EoL talk.\\ud Design\\ud Conversation analysis of video- and audio-recorded consultations.\\ud Participants\\ud Unselected terminally ill patients and their companions in consultation with experienced palliative\\ud medicine doctors.\\ud Setting\\ud O...

IN URGENT NEED OF A DOCTOR

CERN Multimedia

Medical Service

2002-01-01

GENEVA EMERGENCY SERVICES GENEVA AND VAUD 144 FIRE BRIGADE 118 POLICE 117 CERN FIREMEN 767-44-44 ANTI-POISONS CENTRE Open 24h/24h 01-251-51-51 Patient not fit to be moved, call family doctor, or: GP AT HOME, open 24h/24h 748-49-50 Association Of Geneva Doctors Emergency Doctors at home 07h-23h 322 20 20 Patient fit to be moved: HOPITAL CANTONAL CENTRAL 24 Micheli-du-Crest 372-33-11 ou 382-33-11 EMERGENCIES 382-33-11 ou 372-33-11 CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL 6 rue Willy-Donzé 372-33-11 MATERNITY 32 bvd.de la Cluse 382-68-16 ou 382-33-11 OPHTHALMOLOGY 22 Alcide Jentzer 382-33-11 ou 372-33-11 MEDICAL CENTRE CORNAVIN 1-3 rue du Jura 345 45 50 HOPITAL DE LA TOUR Meyrin EMERGENCIES 719-61-11 URGENCES PEDIATRIQUES 719-61-00 LA TOUR MEDICAL CENTRE 719-74-00 European Emergency Call 112 FRANCE EMERGENCY SERVICES 15 FIRE BRIGADE 18 POLICE 17 CERN FIREMEN AT HOME 00-41-22-767-44-44 ANTI-POISONS CENTRE Open 24h/24h 04-72-11-69-11 All doctors will come to your home. Cal...

[Significance of the doctorate in scientific medical education].

Science.gov (United States)

Frosch, Matthias

2018-02-01

According to European and German law, the medical education of physicians must take place in a scientific degree program at a university or under the supervision of a university. To keep up the ideal of a scientific degree program, various organizations and associations, such as the German Research Foundation, the German Council of Science and Humanities and the German Medical Faculty Association, see the need for an even stronger anchoring of academic learning content in the course of study. Traditionally, a scientific project, which is carried out during the studies, provides the basis for the Doctor of Medicine (Dr. med.) after graduation, although the research projects as a basis for medical degrees are currently not obligatory parts of the curricula. The number of medical students performing such research projects is significantly decreasing, thus they are missing major skills for working in science. To counteract these developments, faculties of medicine are currently developing model curricula including deepened scientific education. Despite these efforts, the German Association of Faculties of Medicine argues that the performance of research projects leading to the doctoral degree is most suitable for obtaining expertise in scientific work. According to recommendations by the German Council of Science on the requirements for quality assurance of graduation doctoral degree programs have been introduced. This and further measures, like MD/PhD programs or research-based additional study programs serving the scientific qualification of medical students, are the subject of this article.

Impact of teamwork on missed care in four Australian hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, Rose; Rahman, Asheq; Courtney, Mary; Chalmers, Cheyne

2017-01-01

Investigate effects of teamwork on missed nursing care across a healthcare network in Australia. Missed care is universally used as an indicator of quality nursing care, however, little is known about mitigating effects of teamwork on these events. A descriptive exploratory study. Missed Care and Team Work surveys were completed by 334 nurses. Using Stata software, nursing staff demographic information and components of missed care and teamwork were compared across the healthcare network. Statistical tests were performed to identify predicting factors for missed care. The most commonly reported components of missed care were as follows: ambulation three times per day (43·3%), turning patient every two hours (29%) and mouth care (27·7%). The commonest reasons mentioned for missed care were as follows: inadequate labour resources (range 69·8-52·7%), followed by material resources (range 59·3-33·3%) and communication (range 39·3-27·2%). There were significant differences in missed care scores across units. Using the mean scores in regression correlation matrix, the negative relationship of missed care and teamwork was supported (r = -0·34, p teamwork alone accounted for about 9% of missed nursing care. Similar to previous international research findings, our results showed nursing teamwork significantly impacted on missed nursing care. Teamwork may be a mitigating factor to address missed care and future research is needed. These results may provide administrators, educators and clinicians with information to develop practices and policies to improve patient care internationally. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Choosing a Family Doctor

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... age or sex. This includes care for your physical, mental, and emotional health. Family doctors get to know their patients. They ... and Wellness Staying Healthy Healthy Living Travel Occupational Health First Aid and ... Pets and Animals myhealthfinder Food and Nutrition Healthy Food ...

Evaluating the impact of patients' online access to doctors' visit notes: designing and executing the OpenNotes project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leveille Suzanne G

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Providers and policymakers are pursuing strategies to increase patient engagement in health care. Increasingly, online sections of medical records are viewable by patients though seldom are clinicians' visit notes included. We designed a one-year multi-site trial of online patient accessible office visit notes, OpenNotes. We hypothesized that patients and primary care physicians (PCPs would want it to continue and that OpenNotes would not lead to significant disruptions to doctors' practices. Methods/Design Using a mixed methods approach, we designed a quasi-experimental study in 3 diverse healthcare systems in Boston, Pennsylvania, and Seattle. Two sites had existing patient internet portals; the third used an experimental portal. We targeted 3 key areas where we hypothesized the greatest impacts: beliefs and attitudes about OpenNotes, use of the patient internet portals, and patient-doctor communication. PCPs in the 3 sites were invited to participate in the intervention. Patients who were registered portal users of participating PCPs were given access to their PCPs' visit notes for one year. PCPs who declined participation in the intervention and their patients served as the comparison groups for the study. We applied the RE-AIM framework to our design in order to capture as comprehensive a picture as possible of the impact of OpenNotes. We developed pre- and post-intervention surveys for online administration addressing attitudes and experiences based on interviews and focus groups with patients and doctors. In addition, we tracked use of the internet portals before and during the intervention. Results PCP participation varied from 19% to 87% across the 3 sites; a total of 114 PCPs enrolled in the intervention with their 22,000 patients who were registered portal users. Approximately 40% of intervention and non-intervention patients at the 3 sites responded to the online survey, yielding a total of approximately 38

The importance of the orthopaedic doctors' appearance: a cross-regional questionnaire based study.

Science.gov (United States)

Aitken, Stuart A; Tinning, Craig G; Gupta, Sanjay; Medlock, Gareth; Wood, Alexander M; Aitken, Margaret A

2014-02-01

Critics of the Department of Health 'bare below the elbow' guidelines have raised concerns over the impact of these dress regulations on the portrayed image and professionalism of doctors. However, the importance of the doctor's appearance in relation to other professional attributes is largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine the opinion of patients on the importance of appearance and the style of clothing worn by doctors. Patient questionnaire survey, administered across four Scottish regions. Orthopaedic outpatient departments. 427 patients and accompanying relatives. The absolute and relative importance of the doctors' appearance, as reported using a 5-point Likert scale. The absolute and relative importance of the style of clothing worn by doctors, as reported using a 5-point Likert scale. The rank preferences for four different styles of doctors' attire as illustrated by standardised clinical photographs. The study was appropriately powered to identify a 0.5 difference in mean rank values with 0.90 power at a = 0.05. The majority of participants felt the doctors' appearance was important but not as important as compassion, politeness and knowledge. Only 50% felt that the style of doctors clothing mattered; what proved more important was an impression of cleanliness and good personal hygiene. In terms of how patients would prefer doctors to dress in clinic, the most popular choice proved to be the smart casual style of dress, which conforms with the 'bare below the elbows' dress code policy. The smart casual clothing style was the highest ranked choice irrespective of patient age, gender, regional or socioeconomic background. The doctors' appearance is of importance to patients and their relatives, but they view many other attributes as more important than how we choose to dress. While not specifically addressing the role of doctors clothing in the transmission of infection, our results do support the preference of patients for 'bare below

Nursing care missed in patients at risk of or having pressure ulcers.