All Certified Legal Nurse Consultants will want to read this new study from Johns Hopkins University. This study tellingly proves that new doctors have poor doctor/patient etiquette. I’ve already blogged about how little time doctors spend with patients. But the problem with the physician/patient relationship is even worse than I imagined.
This new study measured five valued communication skills to judge the quality of interaction. What the authors discovered is that in what little time the new doctors spend with patients, they are unlikely to introduce themselves or to sit and have an eye-to-eye conversation with their patients. In short, or in total, the new doctors only performed all five measured behaviors during just four percent of their visits.
Rudeness and the lack of a connection between the provider and patient can set the stage for medical malpractice lawsuits. I’ve been involved in medical malpractice cases in which the doctor wasn’t competent, but the bedside manner was so good the plaintiff wouldn’t include the M.D. in the lawsuit. On the other hand, as every CLNC® consultant knows, a plaintiff won’t hesitate to sue a healthcare provider (doctor or nurse) who was consistently rude or inattentive.
We now know doctors learn many of their bad habits early in their careers. What’s it going to take to change their behavior? More lawsuits?
I’m Just Askin’
P.S. Comment and share medical malpractice cases in which rudeness by a healthcare provider contributed to the lawsuit.
