Evaluation of the initial interview in a walk-in clinic. The clinician's perspective on a "negotiated approach"

A negotiated approach to the conduct of the initial interview has been developed from the need for a more flexible and active exchange between clinician and patient. The setting is the walk-in clinic of the psychiatry service in a large urban general hospital, staffed mostly by first-year residents and staff social workers. These clinicians [26] were asked to evaluate the utility of the negotiated approach. They rated the approach both from their perspective and from that of 136 patients they interviewed. Although the clinicians evaluated the approach positively, they associated their satisfaction much more with the aims of a diagnostic approach than a negotiated one. The clinicians do not perceive that patients share satisfaction in their instrumental objective of understanding (a diagnostic goal), and the clinicians do not perceive that they share satisfaction in the patient's instrumental objective of participating in the treatment planning. The sharpest divergence between the clinician's and perceived patient satisfaction was over two evaluation/outcome measures: the treatment plan being wanted and attainment of symptom relief. These measures correlated much better with perceived patient than clinician satisfaction. Divergence in perspective between clinician and patient was discussed with regard to possible sources, the effect of setting, and the implication for the delivery of services.