Bedside manner is not enough

While patients want a doctor whom they like and can talk to easily, what’s most critical to them—especially if they’re very ill—is the doctor’s medical competence, according to a recent study of almost 1,200 patients. Patients were willing to pay more for a thorough physical examination and continuity of care than they were for simply a friendly physician and reduced waiting time.

What Patients Want From Primary Care Consultations: A Discrete Choice Experiment to Identify Patients’ Priorities [Via Annals of Family Medicine]

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From Medical Economics magazine, more on patient relations ...