The Business of Health Care Report
Physician Impact on Patient Satisfaction - August 2001

This is the first commentary in a series to help business leaders understand the changing roles and challenges of physicians, beginning with the impact of physicians on overall patient satisfaction with delivery of health services.

What makes the most difference to health care consumers? The relationship with their physicians. Seventy-eight percent of North Texans are satisfied; more than 20 percent are not; and these numbers correspond almost exactly to national studies conducted by Professional Research Corporation.

What's working and what's not? Consumers are most satisfied with how their physicians care for them as inpatients, followed by physician direction of outpatient services, and the least satisfaction with emergency physicians.

The attributes most appealing to consumers are among the hardest for physicians to deliver today, given the demands of patient volumes, additional paperwork and the intervention of managed care into the practice of medicine.

Appealing characteristics include:

• The physician taking time to get to know the patient personally
• Taking time especially to give instructions and answer questions
• Respecting the patient's knowledge given the new rise in consumerism and health education
• And the physician being a stable participant in health plans so that the consumer does not have to change.

If you have comments on health care or suggestions for topics to be addressed on this program, e-mail me at DouglasHawthorne@TexasHealth.org.

Stay tuned to our weekly Business of Health Care reports here on TexasHealth.org and on News Radio 1080 KRLD.

Source: PRC, Reality Check, focus groups conducted by THR

Doug Hawthorne - DougHawthorne@TexasHealth.org

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