Does emergency physician empathy reduce thoughts of litigation? A randomised trial

Abstract

BackgroundWe hypothesised the addition of brief empathetic statements to physician–patient interaction might decrease thoughts regarding litigation.MethodsWe enrolled a convenience sample of adults in our emergency department (ED) waiting room into a randomised, double-blind controlled trial. Subjects watched videos of simulated discharge conversations between physicians and patient actors; half of the videos differed only by the inclusion of two brief empathetic statements: verbalisations that (1) the physician recognises that the patient is concerned about their symptoms and (2) the patient knows their typical state of health better than a physician seeing them for the first time and did the right thing by seeking evaluation. After watching the video subjects were asked to score a five-point Likert scale their thoughts regarding suing this physician in the event of a missed outcome leading to lost work (primary outcome), and four measures of satisfaction with the physician encounter (secondary outcomes).ResultsWe enrolled and randomised 437 subjects. 213 in the empathy group and 208 in the non-empathy group completed the trial. Sixteen subjects did not complete the trial due to computer malfunction or incomplete data sheets. Empathy group subjects reported statistically significant less thoughts of litigation than the non-empathy group (mean Likert scale 2.66 vs 2.95, difference −0.29, 95% CI −0.04 to −0.54, p=0.0176). All four secondary measures of satisfaction with the physician encounter were better in the empathy group.ConclusionsIn this study, the addition of brief empathetic statements to ED discharge scenarios was associated with a statistically significant reduction in thoughts regarding litigation.Clinical trial registrationNCT01837706.

Association Between Empathy and Burnout Among Emergency Medicine Physicians

“…It directly correlates with patients’ healthcare outcomes [2, 3]. Higher provider empathy leads to fewer medical errors, improved patient satisfaction and reduced incidence of malpractice claims [4-8]. In addition to these important patient-centered outcomes, empathy may also improve provider wellbeing [9-11].…”

Empathy and burnout of emergency professionals of a health region

“…[ 3 – 5 ] Studies on empathy in EDs have focused mainly on nursing staff. [ 6 ] Further, its impact on issues of litigation [ 7 ] or relation with the religiosity of professionals [ 8 ] has also been studied. Researchers at the Yale University [ 9 ] looked at whether the empathic ability of emergency room professionals could have an impact when seeking complementary imaging tests.…”

Feeling their pain: affective empathy and public preferences for foreign development aid

“…In other words, empathic capacity relates both to inherent capabilities of individuals, but it also can be affected through socialization, interaction, and learning (Preston et al, 2002). Therapists and medical students, for example, routinely undergo training to hone their ability to convey empathy to patients (Smith et al, 2016). Accordingly, empathy has a regulatory component (Lamm and Silani, 2014: 71).…”