Mayo study reveals seven "ideal" physician qualities

Patients receiving medical care value interpersonal skills and a human touch when evaluating their physicians, rather than assessing measures of technical skill, according to a study published in the March issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. The study's authors concluded that the seven qualities contributing to the make-up of an ideal physician are:

• confidence
• empathy
• humanity
• ability to be personal
• forthrightness
• respectfulness
• thoroughness

Conducting telephone interviews with 192 patients across 14 specialty treatment areas at the Mayo Clinic campuses in Scottsdale, AZ and Rochester, MN, the authors found considerable agreement among respondents to open-ended questions about their best and worst experiences with physicians at the clinics. The authors determined that patients are at a "considerable knowledge disadvantage and [have] little choice but to trust the physician to perform the right service in the right way," and are unlikely to evaluate physicians on technical merits. The authors also note: "The findings may also reflect patients' inclination to assume a physician is competent unless the absence of competence is demonstrated."

The authors argue that healthcare organizations would improve patient satisfaction and quality of care by training staff to exhibit the ideal qualities. "Most service organizations invest in developing the interpersonal skills of their employees who interact with customers," the authors write. "It is difficult to imagine a service in which these skills are more important than medical service."

Source: Mayo Clinic Proceedings, March 2006, vol. 81 no. 3, 338-344. See http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.com/pastissues.asp (subscription required).