GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Ever feel like your doctor is in a rush to get you out the door when you come in for a visit? You’re not just imagining things. One study finds physicians give a patient an average of just 11 seconds to describe their issue before cutting them off.
Researchers from the University of Florida determined that for all the waiting we do after we arrive at a medical practitioner’s office, its the doctors who seem to have the least amount of patience. The study shows that just a third of physicians give patients adequate time to explain why they’re there.
“Our results suggest that we are far from achieving patient-centered care,” says study co-author Naykky Singh Ospina in a release, adding that medicals specialists proved to be in the biggest hurry, compared to primary care physicians.
Singh Ospina, who led the research team, sought to examine the flow of conversation between clinicians and patients. More importantly, researchers wanted to see how viable it was for the most important person in the room — the patient, of course — to lead the discussion. Her researchers secured videos of consultations that were filmed in clinics across the U.S. as training sessions for the physicians between 2008 and 2015.
Examining doctor-patient conversations
The team specifically analyzed the first few minutes of the 112 consultations, looking to find out how frequently doctors let the patients dictate the conversation. This was done through inquiries such as, “Tell me what brings you in today,” or “What can I do for you today?” If patients were given the opportunity to set the agenda, the researchers then timed the responses to see how long they could speak before the doctor interrupted them.
The results show that just 36% of doctors ask questions that allowed patients to set the agenda, but two-thirds (67%) of those patients were interrupted after responding. Researchers calculated the doctors cut patients off 11 seconds on average into a response, while those who were able to describe their issue in full needed only six seconds to do so.
“If done respectfully and with the patient’s best interest in mind, interruptions to the patient’s discourse may clarify or focus the conversation, and thus benefit patients,” says Singh Ospina. “Yet, it seems rather unlikely that an interruption, even to clarify or focus, could be beneficial at the early stage in the encounter.”
Burnout to blame?
Researchers also found that only 20% of specialists give patients the opportunity to describe their issue at the onset of a consultation. Of course, it’s certainly possible it may be because they’ve already been briefed on a patient’s problem through a referral or a nurse’s inquiry. Conversely, half of primary care physicians reviewed in the study inquired about a patient’s agenda off the bat.
Still, Singh Ospina notes the importance of physicians — even if they’d previously been alerted to a patient’s reason for visiting — to allow people to discuss their concerns right away.
“Even in a specialty visit concerning a specific matter, it is invaluable to understand why the patients think they are at the appointment and what specific concerns they have related to the condition or its management,” she says.
As for reasons behind being in such a hurry, the authors suggest burnout that many doctors experience could prevent them from adequately serving their patients needs. Other factors include time constraints or simply not receiving strong enough training on how to communicate properly with patients.
The study is published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
This post was originally published on July 20, 2018.
I do think some patients ask too many questions and try to monopolize the doctor’s time. But I also think this is the result of hospitals/medical associations trying to serve as many patients as possible in a day–for financial reasons. When I see a doctor in private practice, I get much more personal attention than when I see a doctor affiliated with patient service at a hospital.
My private practice doctor just hired a PA-big disappointment.
I don’t like PA’s. Nurses aren’t suppose to diagnose. They did not attend medical school and you pay the PA just like you would for a doctor. Patients get the SCREW!
More hospital administrators, MDs, nurses, and dieticians need to stand up for what is right. They have a lot of income between them. They should form associations to combat drug companies and dictatorial medicine originating from drug companies. Or just go into private practices where they can do what is right, and fight state boards of medicine as much as possible, or gain control of them.
As an RN (and preceptor of other RNs) I’ve stood up for what’s right. Fortunately getting a new position somewhere else is fairly easy.
When a doctor stops listening that’s when I walk out
Doctors are no more than advisors they don’t have all the answers and if something doesn’t sound right run
I believe in most cases the Doctor can get a better idea of what is going on by examining the body than listing to the list of symptoms. Then there is blood tests, xrays, MRIs and ultra sound. But if you think the Doctor is dropping the ball try a different doctor. What I look for in a good Doctor is he understands the issue far better than me, and I have read up on it before I talk to him.
grouping initial visits and referrals to specialists together is a huge study flaw. Most specialist referrals are about a particular treatment for a known diagnosis… the sentiments of the patient matter very little in nearly all those cases.
There are a lot of bad people, there are a lot of bad doctors and getting one can be a fatal mistake.
AVOID DR. LESTER CRANCER OF JCH MEDICAL IN JERSEYVILLE, IL. HE’S KNOWN BY FORMER PATIENTS THAT SURVIVED AS DR. CANCER!
In a line of work where one professional is highly experienced and skilled and the client doesn’t have more than a basic understanding, 11 seconds is plenty of time to decide if the client has helpful information or they are going to have to find the problems themself.
There is nothing wrong with interrupting people, especially when something is important. “What’s the problem?” doesn’t require more then 11 seconds to answer. If you don’t like it, don’t go to the doctors.
When did you start to experience this pain?
Back around the time of Jimbo’s wedding.
On a scale of 1-10, how much does it hurt?
Sometimes it hurts real bad.
What medications are you currently taking?
Why don’t you look that up?
wash, rinse, repeat
Funny because it’s true. Also please tell the doctors office all the things you would like to discuss and write it down. That way the doctor can schedule enough time. I’m sure it’s frustrating when the patient says they have one problem, but then start rattling off numerous other complaints.
I think that government red tape has a lot to do with it. The doctor is really too busy filling out all the mandated forms. The patient is not usually the one paying the bill. So who cares what they say.
Also insurance companies and, especially, Medicare reimburse so little the doctors have to see more patients in a day to make money–though I find that it is the hospitals that push this more than individual doctors.
Stay away from the doctor. Thousands of times more time likely to die from medical malpractice than a car accident or school shooting.
Hippocratic oath gone. Money.
Need stitches or a broken bone mended? That the only slam-dunk at the doc’s office. Beyond that, they’re throwing darts at an answer board. Next customer !!
Most patients have very by the book symptoms with predictable ailments. Doctors figure this out quick. Others are predictably there just for medication or attention. Doctors figure this out quick.
I’m not sure this study proves much of anything.
I stopped listening to the brain dead liberal media decades ago.
I see two doctors on a regular basis, they both spend the time with me and we talk. I really appreciate that they listen and are interested in what I have to say.
My new primary are practitioner, an NP, didn’t listen to me at all. Nor, apparently, did she look at my medical history before deciding my previous doctor was doing everything wrong. One ,more appointment to give her a chance. If she doesn’t listen, I’ll document her behavior and file a malpractice complaint. Except for the one doctor I left because he couldn’t speak English well enough to understand, the only medical professional I’ve ever had problems with. And the only one to ignore me.
They are only going to treat symptoms anyways, not the underlying cause. I went 25 years without a simple diagnosis, in conventional medicine.
They can only listen for 11 seconds because it takes them that long to climb on their pedestal and begin their effort to not only talk down to you but to disregard anything intelligent you might say; especially if in fact you are more intelligent and more knowledgeable than they are.
You will be blasted for that comment. And yes, you are smarter than your doctor.
Wow, you’ve had some shitty doctors, Catty. Too bad. I work at a Dr. office and both of them routinely spend 15-45 minutes with each patient as needed. Often it’s just to remind them of their prior visit, where they were told to lose weight by implementing a diet, starting to exercise and to make sure to take their medications. I can’t say if you are more intelligent than ‘they’ (doctors) are, but I can say that your experiences with them have really messed you up. You may not want to find good doctors at this point, but I assure you, there are careful, concerned, competent and attentive doctors out there, even if you are more intelligent than they are.
If you are more “knowledgeable” then a doctor why are you bothering to go see them at all? Just take care of yourself save the money, and stop bothering people you have such a grudge against. You’ll both be much happier.
Blame Obamacare….the Leftist Democrats ruined everything relating to health care
Western medicine does not treat anyone, it is designed to create a profit.
Then you have nothing to complain about and nothing to fear. You will never have to wait in a doctors office to see a physician. You will never have to bother with the insanity of insurance companies. You will never have to sit with someone who has spent YEARS in medical school and understands the human body. You are free to cure yourself, or limit your visits to only those involved in “alternative healthcare”.
I prefer functional medicine. At least my doctor spends more than 11 seconds with me. It’s no mistake most insurances do not cover functional medicine. I suffered for 30 years because conventional medicine treats blood work, not people. My daughter has the same condition as me. No one will treat her, but our functional medicine doctor. Why? Because conventional medicine treats symptoms, not the underlying cause of the symptoms.
That’s not “alternative health care,” that’s common sense. No one make money of of that.