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Science Daily are reporting: Patients Wonder: 'Could This Be Something Serious?' Doctors Who Express Empathy Get Highest Patient Ratings
Quote:
Nearly 4,800 patient surveys and 100 covertly recorded visits by actors posing as patients revealed that empathy is lacking in many exam rooms around the Rochester, N.Y., area. However, doctors who do convey empathy are viewed as more trustworthy.
The study, led by Ronald Epstein, M.D., professor of Family Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, is published in the December Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Epstein and colleagues observed how doctors responded when patients asked loaded questions indicating worry about symptoms involving chest pain. The study builds on previous work by Epstein's group, in which they have described how good communication between doctors and patients, and a willingness to explore concerns, results in improved health care and lower costs.
An analysis of the doctor-patient interactions showed that doctors voiced empathy in only 15 percent of the office visits, even after repeated prompting by the patients.
"I think this study supports the notion that 'mindfulness' is an essential clinical skill," said Epstein, who also directs Rochester's Center to Improve Communications in Health Care. "Mindfulness helps the doctor understand the patient's world to a sufficient degree, so that no matter what the doctor's personal style is, he or she can express empathy."....
Re: Doctors Who Express Empathy Get Highest Patient Ratings
An orthopedic surgeon I previously worked with used to tell me that the important thing was not for a doctor to feel sympathetic for a patient, but that it was important that the patient perceive that the doctor is sympathetic.
__________________
Sincerely,
Kevin
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Kevin A. Kirby, DPM
Adjunct Associate Professor
Department of Applied Biomechanics
California School of Podiatric Medicine at Samuel Merritt College
Doctors Who Express Empathy Get Highest Patient Ratings
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