What do most people want in a doctor?
Link: Etiquette tops patients' checklist
Most Americans rank bedside manner and communication skills at the top of the list of qualities important to them, far ahead of a doctor's hospital affiliation or even where they trained, a new survey has found.
Having a doctor who is board certified also is high on the list, according to the survey of roughly 1,000 adults commissioned by the American Board of Medical Specialties, a nonprofit organization that oversees the board certification of U.S. medical specialists.
An overwhelming majority of survey respondents -- 95 percent -- ranked communication skills and bedside manner as important, with board certification ranked as important by 91 percent.
"Communication skills are increasingly recognized as an essential component of quality health care, and not something that's nice but necessary," said Kevin Weiss, chief executive of the American Board of Medical Specialties. "These survey findings confirm that patients are demanding that their doctors treat them not just with medicines and procedures, but with empathy and information that they understand."
Rajendra Gupta, president of the Medical Society of New Jersey, representing more than 8,000 physicians, said the survey findings were not surprising, even in this age of advanced medical technology.
"This is an age-old thing. Medicine started with the bedside manner and the belief the power to heal comes from the word and the comforting touch of the physician," said Gupta, a specialist in internal medicine and gastroenterology.
Although ranking board certification high on their list of physician qualifiers, the majority of respondents admitted they didn't understand what board certification is.
More than half of respondents -- 57 percent -- said it is difficult to find useful, clear, information on doctors. Contrary to popular belief, Weiss said board certification is a voluntary process a doctor undertakes to demonstrate a commitment to lifelong learning and proficiency in his or her medical specialty.
"Sixty percent incorrectly believe that a doctor has to be board certified to practice medicine, and only 45 percent of survey respondents had ever checked to see if their doctor is board certified," said Weiss, whose board oversees 24 member boards that certify physicians in more than 145 specialties and subspecialties.
Half of respondents to the survey said they do not ask questions or check out the qualifications of a specialist when one is recommended to them by their doctor. Just under a third -- 31 percent -- said they ask questions about the doctor's qualifications, and 28 percent research the doctor's qualifications before making an appointment.
Source: The Star Ledger, Angela Stewart
Comments