Patient Benefits of Physician Relationships

A study conducted by scientists at Harvard Medical School in the United States shows that it is more common receive better care from a specialist if the specialist knows the Primary Care doctor (AP) who has referred the patient himself. This research explains that those under the care of specialists who trained with their PC physicians reported feeling they were treated with greater concern, received clearer explanations, participated more in shared decision-making, and spent more time in query.

The analysis, recently published in JAMA Internal Medicine, is based on the experience of 9,920 visits to 13 specialties by 8,655 patients between 2016 and 2019. From there, the scientists compared the qualifications of two groups of patients: on the one hand, those cared for by a specialist who trained with the Family doctor at the university and those who did not. “Joint training between AP and other specialists was associated with an 8.3 percentage point higher composite score,” they conclude.

Of note, the investigators looked at referrals distributed to other specialists through a scheduling system, rather than referrals requested from individual specialists.

Promote the relationship between physicians

The findings obtained by scientists suggest that strategies that encourage the formation of strong relationships between physicians could lead to significant improvements regarding the quality of patient care. These strategies can be approached in many ways. Michael McWilliams, one of the authors of the analysis, gives some examples such as “team care”, making doctors more visible to each other or group case discussions, for example.

“When doctors believe that their work can be examined or recognized by their peers, they can aspire to higher standards,” they determine in the research. The relations in this studio formed in the pastbut they show that they have made a profit tangible for many patients years later: “This suggests that delivery models that strengthen peer relationships may continue to yield benefits over time.”

behavioral science

The research summarizes that behavioral science has demonstrated the effects of peers and the public through which the presence real or imaginary of others improves performance. These effects can be “particularly powerful” when peer relationships are strong and peers share high standards and common purpose.

That is why it can even elevate medical performance, not only by subjecting actions to scrutiny, but also by providing the opportunity to demonstrate commitment to what the profession values. “The motivational effects of peer interaction pcould have profound implications for the organization of the provision of care, including potential earnings of models that foster familiarity and visibility among peers, gains that could accrue across many dimensions of care without requiring specific decision interventions,” they determine.