Exams Predict Which Doctors Will Have Problems Communicating

By Cheree Cleghorn, Editor

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has a study which asked if “patient-physician communication examination scores in the clinical examination scores predicted future complaints in medical practice.”

Yep. They sure do.

The context described for the study: “Poor patient-physician communication increases the risk of patient complaints and malpractice claims. To address this problem, licensure assessment has been reformed in Canada and the United States, including a national standardized assessment of patient-physician communication and clinical history taking and examination skills,” the authors wrote. Patient complaints made to medical regulatory authorities were used as the authors’ definition of “complaint.”

The study was done in Canada. All the doctors taking the licensing exam between 1993 and 1996 were followed up until 2005, including the first 2 to 12 years of practice, the JAMA abstract says. There were 3,424 physicians studied.

What Does This Mean To You?

It’s smart to listen when patients rave about a doctor. Ask them more, even if you don’t need that kind of doctor at the time.

When you are asking patients about their doctors, zero in on how well current patients think the doctor communicates with them.

• Are they generally happy with the doctor’s overall manner and style of communicating?
  
• Does the doctor explain what is to be done before an examination and during it?
  
• Does the doctor work to make it clear to them what the problem is and what the plan for treatment is?
  
• If the patient were unconscious, and this doctor was the only one available to make a decision on the patient’s behalf, would the patient feel comfortable that this doctor would act in his or her best interests?
• Have there been any misunderstandings? If so, how were they worked out?
  

Citation: Journal of the American Medical Association, “Physician Scores on a National Clinical Skills Examination as Predictors of Complaints to Medical Regulatory Authorities JAMA. 2007; 298:993-1001