What did the doctor do? When physicians and patients disagree

Area of Science:

• Medical Communication
• Patient-Physician Relationship
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Routine clinical encounters reveal frequent discrepancies between physician and patient accounts of events.
• Understanding the origins of these differing perceptions is crucial for improving healthcare quality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the conditions under which physician and patient perceptions of clinical visits diverge.
• To identify factors contributing to disagreements about events during medical consultations.

Main Methods:

• A study involving 5 physicians and 189 patients post-clinic visit.
• Utilized post-encounter questionnaires to assess perceived visit duration and occurrence of 7 clinical events.

Main Results:

• Disagreements were most common concerning physician counseling and treatment procedures.
• Physician-patient disagreement was influenced by patient characteristics.
• Discrepancy was highest when physicians downplayed psychosocial factors or felt overly confident in understanding the patient's issue.

Conclusions:

• Physician-patient discrepancies in recalling clinical events are common.
• Physicians may improve shared understanding by focusing more on psychosocial factors and being less certain about patient problem comprehension.