A Person-Centred Approach to Explaining Diagnosis and Treatment in Surgeon-Patient Consultations

Person-centered care is achieved through the approaches taken within consultations with patients. In this study, we aim to better understand strategies surgeons use during consultations to improve patient understanding and acceptance of diagnosis and treatment recommendations. We filmed 32 surgical consultations with three different surgeons at a private orthopedic outpatient clinic in metropolitan Australia. All participants were fluent English speakers and over the age of 18. Twenty-two recordings met the analysis criteria and were analyzed using conversation analysis. One consultation was selected for single-case analysis. Our analysis demonstrates that integrating a diagnosis discussion with treatment recommendations, in the frame of disease progression, works as a person-centered approach, bridging the knowledge gap between doctor and patient in the context of a health condition with limited choice regarding treatment. This case study highlights the potential of an integrated diagnosis-treatment approach to improve patient comprehension and acceptance.