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Related Experiment Videos

How do patients define "good" and "bad" doctors?

Christophe Luthy1, Christine Cedraschi, Eliane Perrin

  • 1Service of Internal and Rehabilitation Medicine, University Hospitals, Hôpital Beau-Seéjour, CH-1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland. christophe.luthy@hcuge.ch

Swiss Medical Weekly
|February 25, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Patients define good doctors by their sensitivity and tailored treatment. Bad doctors are perceived as self-serving, highlighting the importance of the doctor-patient relationship and individualized care.

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Area of Science:

  • Medical Sociology
  • Patient Experience Research
  • Qualitative Health Research

Background:

  • Limited understanding exists regarding hospital patients' perceptions of physician qualities.
  • Exploring patient definitions of
  • good
  • and
  • bad
  • doctors is crucial for improving healthcare interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate hospital patients' perspectives on the characteristics defining
  • good
  • and
  • bad
  • doctors.
  • To identify key patient expectations and beliefs about physician conduct.

Main Methods:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Conducted semi-structured interviews with 68 consecutive hospital patients.
  • Employed content analysis to systematically examine patient responses regarding doctor qualities.

Main Results:

  • Content analysis identified 9 positive/negative categories of doctor attributes.
  • Patient responses emphasized physician sensitivity, relational aspects, and personalized treatment.
  • "Bad" doctors were characterized by self-serving medical practices, contrasting with patient-centered care.

Conclusions:

  • Qualitative data revealed patient expectations beyond pre-established medical categories.
  • Acknowledging physician uncertainty is less detrimental to the doctor's image than unadapted scientific proficiency.
  • Patient-centered communication and empathy are paramount in defining a "good" doctor.