March 11, 2008
What Patients Want
Survey Shows Patients Value A Doctor's Thoroughness Over Timeliness And Friendliness
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A thorough examination was always the most important attribute relative to the others regardless of the medical scenario, according to a recent survey. (Getty Images/Joe Raedle)
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A new survey of more than 1,000 patients in the U.K. shows patients place the highest value in the thoroughness of their visit to a primary care doctor. Thoroughness was followed by these attributes:
Unlike the U.S., the U.K. has a socialized health care system. But researchers say the findings are universal and should help guide new medical policies involving patient care.
What Patients Want
In the study, researchers at the University of Manchester surveyed 1,193 patients from six family practices in England. The patients were asked to place a value on attributes of primary care consultations, such as ease of access, choice of appointment times, continuity of care, technical quality of care, and bedside manner.
Overall, patients were willing to pay the most for a thorough physical examination ($40.87). The next most valued attribute was seeing a doctor who knew them well ($12.18), followed by seeing a doctor with a friendly manner ($8.50), having a shorter waiting times to get in to see the doctor ($7.22), and having a choice of appointment times ($6.71). Patients in the U.K. do not routinely pay for health care, such as office visits.
The survey showed that what patients valued most also varied depending on their reasons for seeking medical care. For example, those with an urgent medical condition were willing to pay more for shorter waiting times, while those with an ambiguous physical or psychological issue valued seeing a doctor who knew them well most.
However, a thorough examination was always the most important attribute relative to the others regardless of the medical scenario.
Researchers say the findings should provide health policy makers with a clearer idea of patients' priorities. The results appear in the Annals of Family Medicine.
By Jennifer Warner
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2005-2006 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved.
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- You get what you pay for, and socialized health care is free.
Posted by random_radar
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Part 2: Pills in other countries, such as Canada, cost rather less than in the US too. And they''re the same pills, made in (probably China or India). So why are the prices ramped up in America? - Reply to this comment
- You get what you pay for, and socialized health care is free.
Posted by random_radar
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No, it''s paid by the taxpayers - why do you think those countries'' taxes are so high? - Reply to this comment
- ptmars1 - if u have 4 SPECIALTY doctors, your BEST efforts at keeping healthy isn''t so successful now is it? And NO - doctors don''t get a "percentage" for the prescriptions they write. Doctors are not your enemies...maybe the "insurers" druggists 3rd party payors and abusers of the "free" healthcare system - i.e. welfare, are your biggest enemies
- Reply to this comment
- I feel there is a medical problem in America. Everything comes at too high a price. My mother has over 8 specialty doctors here in AZ. She takes over 26 pills a day. It''s crazy! Then I heard, and I don''t know if it is true, but every doctor is getting a percentage of every prescription he writes out???If you know if this is a fact, please let me know... I myself have 4 specialty doctors I see, and they are all great! I do not take a hand full of pills everyday. I do my best to stay healthy.
- Reply to this comment
- You get what you pay for, and socialized health care is free.
- Reply to this comment
- Rushman71, What you are saying is correct. However, have the patients ever thought about the doctor''s fees? Probably not. Consider this, as a doctor, I have rent or a house note plus office rent, which often can be as much or more than my house note. I have two electric bills, two water bills, malpractice insurance at least $10K per year, liability insurance at home and office, plus I pay at least $20K to each of my office staff, and more to the office manager. I routinely have to argue with your insurance carrier for their share of your bill, of course this is after you have paid the deductible, and after you have left the office with your prescription. Yes my fees are high, but I have more than 2x the bills than the patient.
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- RE: denn34 wrote, "Patients want no doctors either."
How I wish that were true. Patients want someone who will take care of them (like thier mother did). If they really were interested in their own personal they wouldn''t smoke or drink alcohol to excess. They would accept healthy lifestyles and do the things that are necessary to prevent illness.
Unfortunately, patients see doctors when there is a crisis in their lives. It is not preventive medicine they want, they want crisis management. - Reply to this comment
- Patients want no doctors either.
- Reply to this comment
- I''ll tell you what patients want: reduction of insurance cost, reduction of doctors fees, and reduction of pharmacutical cost!!!
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- What patients want and what they get is a million miles apart. What they need is for doctors to Stop towing the Big Pharma line and release themselves and their patients from the corrupt yoke which has now become far too heavy to carry.
The caveat the medical profession must heed is that their actions and behaviour are currently under scutiny. Millions of people are taking notes and watching you, they are being supported by this medium who are carrying their stories worldwide.
The Game Is Up. - Reply to this comment
