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Doctors’ interpersonal skills valued highly

Physician Practice Advisor, December 13, 2004

U.S. adults believe it is extremely important for their doctors to have strong interpersonal skills such as being respectful (85%) and listening carefully to healthcare concerns and questions (84%), although they also value good medical judgment (80%), according to the results of a new Harris Interactive® poll of 2,267 U.S. adults.

The biggest "gap" in what people want from doctors v. what they actually get is related to how up-to-date their doctors are on the latest medical research and treatment, as 78% feel this knowledge is extremely important for their doctors to have, but only 54% actually described their doctors as being up-to-date.

With interpersonal skills being of so much value to patients, it is no surprise that some have changed doctors due to failures in this area. Fourteen percent changed because they didn't feel their doctors listened to them carefully, 12% felt as though their doctors didn't spend enough time with them, and 11% felt that they weren't treated with respect.

The survey also showed that a majority of patients prefer to communicate with their doctors by telephone (71%) when they have a nonurgent question rather than in person (21%) or via e-mail (8%).

The online survey polled adults between September 21 and 23, 2004, for the Wall Street Journal Online health industry edition. Go to www.harrisinteractive.com to view the poll.

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