Patient Centered Care?

DOCTORS INTERRUPT PATIENTS, STOP LISTENING AFTER 11 SECONDS ON AVERAGE, STUDY SAYS

https://www.newsweek.com/doctor-patient-visits-1035514

Excerpt: octors only spend 11 seconds on average listening to patients before interrupting them, according to a new study. A team of scientists from the United States and Mexico studied clinical encounters between patients and physicians to test shared decision-making tools. Published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, the scientists learned of the lack of attention many doctors provide their patients. “Our results suggest that we are far from achieving patient-centered care,” Naykky Singh Ospina, an author on the study, said in a release published Thursday. The scientists analyzed 112 recorded meetings between doctors and patients at general practices in Minnesota and Wisconsin, including at the Mayo Clinic and its affiliated clinics. The scientists learned doctors only spent 11 seconds on average listening to a patient describe their reasons for visiting before interrupting. The team only counted how long it took a doctor to interrupt if the doctor first said something like “What can I do for you today?” or “Tell me what brings you in today,” allowing the patients to set the agenda of the conversation.