Purdue University - Brian Lamb School of Communication, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
J Gen Intern Med. 2021 Oct;36(10):3052-3057. doi: 10.1007/s11606-020-06485-8. Epub 2021 Jan 19.
Prospective patients are increasingly going to health systems' online directories to find their next primary care providers (PCP), making this channel of communication important to assess to determine if it is meeting patients' needs. When seeking a new PCP, patients want to know not only educational credentials but also providers' communication traits, and personal information to showcase providers as real people. Offering this information, to help patients find providers best suited to meet their needs, is a key attribute of patient-centered care.
To analyze whether health systems' online PCP biographies are including the information prospective patients deem important when selecting a PCP.
Using the AHRQ's Compendium of US Health Systems, 523 health systems' PCP biographies were content analyzed (n = 5004 biographies) from December 2019 to March 2020.
Forty-eight unique pieces of information were coded for either their presence or absence (e.g., education, photo, languages spoken, insurance accepted, patient reviews, philosophy of care, video provided, personal hobbies/interests). Providers' alphabetic credentials (e.g., MD, DO, APRN) were also documented.
The majority of biographies stated the provider's medical education (83.6%) and included a photo (81.4%). However, information patients also desire (e.g., communication traits and personal information) were less prevalent. Only 33.7% listed languages spoken, 18.2% offered patient reviews, 14.4% had personal hobbies/interests, and 10.6% included a video. There were also 192 unique alphabetic credential combinations listed next to providers' names. Two health systems clearly included information within biographies to help prospective patients understand what these credentials meant.
Health systems could make simple changes to their providers' online biographies in order to help patients make more informed decisions of PCPs. Doing so may decrease doctor shopping, and also lead to a greater likelihood of developing longer-term relationships with PCPs.
越来越多的潜在患者会前往医疗系统的在线名录寻找下一位初级保健医生（PCP），因此，评估这一沟通渠道是否满足患者的需求非常重要。在寻找新的 PCP 时，患者不仅希望了解教育背景，还希望了解医生的沟通特点和个人信息，以了解医生的真实情况。提供这些信息有助于患者找到最适合满足其需求的医生，这是以患者为中心的医疗服务的关键属性。
分析医疗系统的在线 PCP 简介是否包含患者在选择 PCP 时认为重要的信息。
使用 AHRQ 的美国医疗系统汇编，我们对 2019 年 12 月至 2020 年 3 月期间的 523 个医疗系统的 PCP 简介（n=5004 个简介）进行了内容分析。
我们对 48 个独特的信息进行了编码，以确定它们是否存在（例如，教育背景、照片、所讲语言、接受的保险、患者评价、护理理念、提供的视频、个人爱好/兴趣）。还记录了医生的字母证书（例如，MD、DO、APRN）。
大多数简介都说明了医生的医学教育背景（83.6%），并包含了照片（81.4%）。然而，患者也希望了解的信息（例如，沟通特点和个人信息）则不太常见。只有 33.7%的简介列出了所讲语言，18.2%的简介提供了患者评价，14.4%的简介包含个人爱好/兴趣，10.6%的简介包含视频。还有 192 个独特的字母证书组合列在医生的名字旁边。有两个医疗系统在简介中明确包含了帮助潜在患者了解这些证书含义的信息。
医疗系统可以对其医生的在线简介进行简单的更改，以帮助患者更明智地选择 PCP。这样做可能会减少“医生购物”的现象，也更有可能与 PCP 建立更长期的关系。
