Do Patients Want to Know about Surgeon Experience?

Area of Science:

• Medical Ethics
• Patient Safety
• Surgical Innovation

Background:

• Informed consent is crucial for new medical procedures.
• Patient understanding of surgeon expertise is a key component of consent.
• Assessing patient interest in surgeon training data is vital for ethical practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate patient desire for information regarding surgeon experience with new procedures.
• To determine if patients want to know the number of times a surgeon has performed a new surgery.
• To ascertain if patients wish to know when a surgeon began performing a new procedure.

Main Methods:

• A survey was administered to patients at two outpatient settings.
• Exclusion criteria included low reading level, non-English speakers, and pregnancy.
• The survey incorporated literacy assessment (REALM-SF), anxiety measures (STAI-X2), and specific questions on surgeon experience.

Main Results:

• 77.3% of surveyed patients desired information on surgeon experience with new procedures.
• Patient age and race were significant factors influencing the desire for this information.
• Literacy scores, anxiety levels, and healthcare background did not significantly impact patient preferences.

Conclusions:

• A significant majority of patients want to be informed about their surgeon's expertise before undergoing new procedures.
• This highlights the importance of transparency in surgeon training for patient trust and informed consent.
• Future research could explore patient preferences across diverse demographics and procedure types.