Korea Journal of Hospital Management (한국병원경영학회지)

Korean Society of Hospital Management (한국병원경영학회)
권호 표지

The association of physicians' caring attitude with patient satisfaction: an analysis of the national e-survey data

  • Park, Chanhyun (College of Pharmacy The University of Texas) ;
  • Kim, Namhyo (School of Pharmacy University of Wisconsin) ;
  • Shin, Dong Yeong (School of Health Professions University of Alabama) ;
  • Feldman, Steven R. (Department of Dermatology & Public Health Sciences Wake Forest University School of Medicine) ;
  • Balkrishnan, Rajesh (School of Medicine and Public Health Sciences University of Virginia) ;
  • Chang, Jongwha (Department of Pharmaceutical, Social & Administrative Sciences Samford University McWhorter School of Pharmacy)
  • Received : 2015.03.10
  • Accepted : 2015.04.12
  • Published : 2015.06.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

As patient satisfaction is a crucial component of improved health care outcomes, there is a need to evaluate the relationship between physicians' attitude and patients' satisfaction. The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between patients' satisfaction and physicians' friendly and caring attitudes by using recent physician ratings by patients. Data from a cross-sectional survey using a convenience sampling was utilized to examine the relationship between physicians' attitudes and patients' satisfaction. The independent variable was the physician's attitude, and the dependent variables were patients' satisfaction with the physician and the office setting. A total of 273,994 patients it the US were included. The patients' average (standard deviation, SD) satisfaction with the physician was 78.08 (0.14), and the average (SD) satisfaction with the office setting was 78.62 (0.12) out of 100. Physicians' attitude was a significant predicting factor impacting the patients' satisfaction with the physician and the office setting (p < 0.001). To facilitate patients' satisfaction with healthcare, a continuous effort to develop physicians' ability to communicate in an empathetic manner should be undertaken so that patients perceive their physicians as empathetic.

환자의 만족도는 더 나은 의료서비스 결과물을 위한 중요 요소이기에, 환자만족도와 관련 요인에 대한 연구는 그 필요성이 대두하고 있다. 따라서, 본 연구는 의사의 환자를 향한 공감적(empathetic) 태도와 같은 잠재적 요인이 환자만족도와 어떤 연관성을 가졌는지를 분석했다. 이를 위해, 편의표본추출법을 통한 환자설문조사 자료 중 총 273,994 개의 사례들을 분석한 단면연구가 수행되었다. 연구의 독립변수 및 종속변수들은 각각 의사의 태도 및 의사와 진료소(office setting or clinic) 관련 환자만족도로 정의되었다. 연구결과에 의하면, 의사와 진료소 관련 환자만족도는 각각 100점 만점에 평균 78.08과 78.62로 나타났고 상응하는 표준편차는 각각 0.14와 0.12였다. 또한, 의사의 태도가 의사와 진료소 관련 환자만족도와 유의한 관계에 있음을 확인하였다(p < 0.001). 의료에 대한 환자만족도를 높이기 위해서는, 의사의 공감적 의사소통 능력개발을 위한 지속적인 노력이 기울여져서 환자에 의한 의사의 공감적 태도가 인지되어 질 수 있기를 본 연구는 제언한다.

Keywords

References

  1. Beck RS, Daughtridge R, Sloane PD(2002). Physician-patient communication in the primary care office: a systematic review. The Journal of the American Board of Family Practice / American Board of Family Practice, 15(1):25-38
  2. Bush T, Cherkin D, Barlow W (1993). The impact of physician attitudes on patient satisfaction with care for low back pain. Arch Fam Med, 2(3):301-305 https://doi.org/10.1001/archfami.2.3.301
  3. Camacho FT, Feldman SR, Balkrishnan R, Kong MC, Anderson RT(2009). Validation and reliability of 2 specialty care satisfaction scales. American journal of medical quality : the official journal of the American College of Medical Quality, 24(1):12-18 https://doi.org/10.1177/1062860608326416
  4. DrScore. (2013). Patient Satisfaction Surveys. Retrieved September 11, 2013, from http://www.drscore.com/medicalgroups/about.cfm
  5. Fallowfield L (1992). The ideal consultation. Br J Hosp Med, 47:364-367.
  6. Garcia D, Bautista O, Venereo L, Coll O, Vassena R, Vernaeve V(2013). Training in empathic skills improves the patient-physician relationship during the first consultation in a fertility clinic. Fertility and sterility, 99(5):1413-1418 e1411 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2012.12.012
  7. Hojat M, Axelrod D, Spandorfer J, Mangione S(2013). Enhancing and sustaining empathy in medical students. Medical teacher, 35(12):996-1001 https://doi.org/10.3109/0142159X.2013.802300
  8. Iaconi AI, Chang J, Feldman S, Balkrishnan R(2011). Toward Continuous Primary Care in the United States: Differences in Patient Satisfaction Between First and Return Visits to Primary Care Physicians/Analysis of DrScore--The National e-Survey Data. Journal of primary care & community health, 2(2):127-132 https://doi.org/10.1177/2150131910393252
  9. ITU. (2013). Percentage of individuals using the internet Retrieved September 11, 2013, from http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx
  10. Jani BD, Blane DN, Mercer SW(2012). The role of empathy in therapy and the physician-patient relationship. Forschende Komplementarmedizin, 19(5):252-257 https://doi.org/10.1159/000342998
  11. Mercer SW, Maxwell M, Heaney D, Watt GC(2004). The consultation and relational empathy (CARE) measure: development and preliminary validation and reliability of an empathy-based consultation process measure. Family practice, 21(6):699-705 https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cmh621
  12. Mercer SW, Reilly D, Watt GC(2002). The importance of empathy in the enablement of patients attending the Glasgow Homoeopathic Hospital. The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 52(484):901-905
  13. Mercer SW, Reynolds WJ(2002). Empathy and quality of care. The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 52 Suppl:S9-12
  14. Neumann M, Scheffer C, Tauschel D, Lutz G, Wirtz M, Edelhauser F(2012). Physician empathy: definition, outcome-relevance and its measurement in patient care and medical education. GMS Zeitschrift fur medizinische Ausbildung, 29(1):Doc11
  15. Roter DL, Stewart M, Putnam SM, Lipkin M, Jr., Stiles W, Inui TS(1997). Communication patterns of primary care physicians. JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association, 277(4):350-356 https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1997.03540280088045
  16. Thompson DA, Yarnold PR, Williams DR, Adams SL (1996). Effects of actual waiting time, perceived waiting time, information delivery, and expressive quality on patient satisfaction in the emergency department. Ann Emerg Med, 28(6):657-665 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0196-0644(96)70090-2
  17. Uhas AA, Camacho FT, Feldman SR, Balkrishnan R(2008). The Relationship Between Physician Friendliness and Caring, and Patient Satisfaction: Findings from an Internet-Based Survey. The patient, 1(2):91-96 https://doi.org/10.2165/01312067-200801020-00004
  18. Winefield HR, Chur-Hansen A(2000). Evaluating the outcome of communication skill teaching for entry-level medical students: does knowledge of empathy increase? Medical education, 34(2):90-94 https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2923.2000.00463.x
  19. Zachariae R, Pedersen CG, Jensen AB, Ehrnrooth E, Rossen PB, von der Maase H (2003). Association of perceived physician communication style with patient satisfaction, distress, cancer-related self-efficacy, and perceived control over the disease. Br J Cancer, 88(5):658-665 https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bjc.6600798