While most patients think doctors care about them and treat them well, many are quite annoyed by some of the administrative issues they face when visiting their primary care provider, according to a new survey conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center. The CRNRC polled 39,000 patients and 335 primary care doctors to find out what relationships between PCPs and patients were like these days. What they found was that while most patients felt doctors were providing good care, listening and paying attention to their feelings, they were unhappy about several common administrative slips. Two thirds, for example, were upset by doctors' failure to divulge the cost of medications or office visits. Another third were unhappy when doctors failed to mention side effects of meds prescribed. Nineteen percent mentioned being unhappy when doctors couldn't see them within a week, and seven percent were bothered when doctors didn't return test results promptly.
PCPs, of course, had complaints of their own, including when patients weren't compliant with their treatment, waited too long to make an appointment when they were ill or hung back when asked to describe their symptoms.
To find out more about doctor-patient relationships:
- read this article in The Washington Post