Physicians make comments about patients' previous care and other physicians in nearly half of patient visits and the majority of those comments tend to be critical, potentially harming patient satisfaction, according to a survey from the Journal of Internal Medicine.
In the study, actors portrayed advanced lung cancer patients and visited 20 community-based oncologists and family physicians. The study focused on discussions about advanced cancer care rendered to the patients by other physicians.
Of the 34 encounters, 14, or 41 percent, contained a total of 42 comments from physicians on patients' previous care. Nearly one-third of those comments were deemed as supportive and 4 percent as neutral, but 67 percent of the comments were identified as critical. Those comments included one specialty criticizing another and a general lack of distrust in physicians, according to the study.
Researchers concluded that this behavior among physicians may affect patient satisfaction and quality of care. "Healthcare system policies and training should discourage this behavior," the researchers wrote.
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