"Let Me Tell You About My…" Provider Self-Disclosure in the Emergency Department Builds Patient Rapport.

Area of Science:

• Medical Communication
• Patient Experience
• Emergency Medicine

Background:

• Physician-patient communication is vital as patients become more involved in their care.
• Prior research indicated physician self-disclosure (SD) negatively impacted communication skill ratings in primary care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the frequency and effect of emergency department (ED) provider self-disclosure on patient perceptions of communication skills.

Main Methods:

• A survey of 520 adult patients/parents in a tertiary care ED.
• Assessed patient-reported provider self-disclosure and subsequent ratings of communication skills.
• Compared communication ratings between encounters with and without provider self-disclosure.

Main Results:

• Provider self-disclosure occurred in 18.9% of interactions.
• Self-disclosure correlated with improved patient ratings of communication skills, rapport, and satisfaction.
• Patients reporting self-disclosure rated communication skills as 'excellent' more frequently (63.4%) than those without (47.1%).

Conclusions:

• Provider self-disclosure is prevalent in the ED setting.
• Self-disclosure is linked to enhanced provider communication, rapport, and patient satisfaction.
• Patients desire provider sharing of experiences to build comfort and connection.