Physician Empathy Crucial to Patient Satisfaction

The definition of “empathy” in my tattered copy of Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Fifth Edition, is “Projection of one’s own consciousness onto another being.” Now a study conducted by a cluster of orthopedists in Boston has revealed that patient-perceived physician empathy is a key factor in patient satisfaction.

Patient satisfaction has become a major issue in health care. The introduction to the study explains, “As health care transitions move from a fee-for-service to an outcomes-based environment, enhancing the patient experience has become a priority for both policymakers and clinical leaders. Despite growing interest in patient satisfaction, its drivers remain poorly understood.”

Regardless of the popular saying “patients don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care, ” the researchers believed that little is understood about the influence of provider empathy on patient satisfaction in a specialty surgical office. While doctors believed that their job was to “find the problem and fix it, ” they began to suspect that other factors might also be in play.

The results of the study revealed that 65% of patient satisfaction was attributed to physician empathy. “Satisfaction was not affected by wait time for an appointment, wait time in the office, time with the surgeon, resident/fellow involvement, whether or not patients were seeking a second opinion, health literacy, or treatment choice, ” the researchers wrote learned.

While good technical skills are essential for hand and orthopedic surgery, “this study shows that physician empathy is the best opportunity to improve the patient experience, ” said orthopedic surgeon and principal investigator David Ring, M.D., Ph.D. “In prior studies, we’ve had trouble determining what specifically contributes to patient satisfaction, so a finding that empathy explains 65% of the variation in satisfaction is really powerful.”

Ring noted that surgeons and medical staff members can be coached to practice better communication and relationship skills. “My patients and I have benefited greatly from my coaching and practice of more effective communication strategies, ” said Ring.

The study authors emphasized the importance of their insights as health care reimbursement is increasingly tied to patient satisfaction and patient reported outcomes. The study was recently published in the Journal of Hand Surgery.