A new study shows that as the day progresses, physicians are more likely to defer discussion of cancer screening, and these findings indicate that “this could potentially result in suboptimal care.”
After gathering data from 10,000 patients researchers found that 48.6% of patients experienced a problem, and over 30% of those “did not always feel comfortable speaking up.” The study has implications for overall patient safety and satisfaction.
Researchers have found that study participants exposed to shared decision-making reported “higher trust, rated their physicians more highly and were less likely to fault their physicians for the adverse outcome compared with those exposed to no decision-making.”
Computers in patient exam rooms have become commonplace in healthcare, but they may be perceived by both physicians and patients as a barrier to effective communication.