The Effect of Practitioner Empathy on Patient Satisfaction

Keshtkar, Leila; Madigan, Claire D.; Ward, Andy; Ahmed, Sarah; Tanna, Vinay; Rahman, Ismail; Bostock, Jennifer; Nockels, Keith; Wang, Wen; Gillies, Clare L.; Howick, Jeremy

doi:10.7326/m23-2168

Cited by 12 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 57 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Similarly, Ferrell et al [63] emphasise the critical role of compassion and nonphysical support for trial patients. Furthermore, Keshtkar et al [64] demonstrate that empathy enhances patient satisfaction with their care, and influences favourable patient outcomes. The importance of interconnected support components for successful troubleshooting in DCT is critical to ensure data integrity [65], Clinical support connected to good clinical practice [66] and patient competence necessary for retention [59] and crucial for continued motivation [58].…”

Section: Theme 5 Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adapting to Decentralised Clinical Trials: Analysis of Trial Clinician's Experiences and Impacts on the Patient-Centred Experience (Preprint)

Gamble,

Linehan,

Heavin

2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BACKGROUND Industry, academic experts, and governing bodies emphasise the importance of prioritising the patient-centred experience in clinical trials to enhance retention, adherence, and trial participation. Concurrently, there has been a notable rise in the adoption of technology-mediated decentralised trial methodologies for conducting clinical trials. OBJECTIVE Our study aims to understand clinicians' perceptions of this transition and its impact on delivering a patient-centred experience. METHODS Fifteen clinicians with experience in facilitating decentralised trials (DCT) were interviewed and transcripts were analysed through reflexive thematic analysis [1]. RESULTS Our findings reveal one superordinate theme: the quality and frequency of interactions with patients and clinicians are limited, and six main themes (1) increased clinician demands, (2) the difficulties created for patients, (3) challenges knowing the patient and understanding their experiences, (4) impacts on forming and maintaining clinician-patient relationships, (5) difficulty in delivering desired support and care, and (6) effects on trial conduct. While DCTs offer advantages in improving accessibility, they introduce new complexities that can negatively impact patient engagement, retention, and the clinician-patient relationship. Implications for clinicians include taking on increased technical support roles, adapting to evolving working conditions, and reimagining their responsibilities, necessitating enhanced training programs. Implications for technology design include shifting the focus from solely data collection to creating patient-centred experiences and conditions, employing user-centred design principles and fostering collaboration among stakeholders. CONCLUSIONS One of the primary goals of clinical trials is to collect patient data while navigating several complex challenges, such as regulatory compliance, patient burden, study objectives, safety, scalability, protocols, and ethical considerations. Despite the many benefits of a remote approach, such as improved accessibility and data collection, DCTs have changed the dynamics for patients and clinicians. Approaches that work in traditional face-to-face trials may be less effective in the context of DCTs. As workplaces evolve with increasing technological mediation, clinicians face challenges that inevitably impact their working dynamics and potentially impact overall performance. Clinicians are crucial in navigating DCTs, acting as essential intermediaries between patients, support systems, and trial protocols. To adapt effectively to DCTs and the evolving trial dynamics, clinicians need adequate support and resources. The emphasis on patient technologies in DCT that focus on data collection, understandably vital for clinical trials, and the remote, reduced frequency and types of clinician-patient interactions to minimise patient burden, introduce new expectations and repercussions that impact the overall patient trial experience. Relying on clinicians to support the patient experience without adequately understanding each patient's unique experiences undermines their abilities to fulfil this role. Despite DCTs being presented as a patient-centred approach to trials, our research suggests that significant progress is still needed to realise this vision fully. While DCTs and the technology solutions employed show promise, they often fall short of adequately supporting important components of a patient-centred trial experience, potentially even detracting from it. A patient-centred experience requires a perspective that extends beyond convenience and reduced travel; it involves a complex interplay of personal, emotional, health, environmental, cultural, design, and contextual factors. Refocusing DCTs and how technology enhances these trials is necessary to support patients' diverse needs, recognising them as individuals with unique, personalised requirements backed with clear evidence of benefits. Prioritising conditions and technology that enhance the patient experience in DCTs while maintaining rigorous data collection standards can create a more balanced and effective approach to DCT, ultimately benefiting both patients and clinicians.

show abstract

Section: Theme 5 Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adapting to Decentralised Clinical Trials: Analysis of Trial Clinician's Experiences and Impacts on the Patient-Centred Experience (Preprint)

Gamble,

Linehan,

Heavin

2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Physician empathy has been shown to have many beneficial effects on both patients and physicians, and their relationship as well. Physician empathy can help build trust in the patient–physician relationship, enhance patient–physician communication, prevent medical paternalism, improve patient satisfaction and health outcomes, and “support patient self-efficacy, treatment adherence, and disease management planning” [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. Furthermore, physician empathy enhances the emotional wellbeing of physicians [ 4 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Greek Jefferson Scale of Empathy—Medical Student Version (JSE-S): Psychometric Properties and Its Associated Factors

Voultsos,

Galanis,

Dafni

et al. 2024

Behavioral Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Greek version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy—Student version (JSE-S) and its association with potential predictors among Greek-speaking undergraduate medical students. This study adopted a cross-sectional, comparative–descriptive research design. The study was conducted during October and November 2023. Cronbach’s α values for the JSE-S and the factors “perspective taking”, “compassionate care”, and “standing in the patient’s shoes” showed internal consistency. The intraclass correlation coefficient for the JSE-S score in the test–retest study indicated a high level of reliability. The participants showed moderate empathy levels. Females scored higher than males in the Greek version of the JSE-S. Moreover, students enrolled in the fourth academic year showed higher empathy mean scores than those enrolled in the first year. Statistically significant empathy differences by specialty preferences or faith in God/supreme power were not found. The present study provided satisfactory evidence that the Greek JSE-S is a psychometrically sound measurement instrument. Empathy differences by gender were found in line with prior literature.

show abstract

“…Physician empathy has been shown to have many beneficial effects on both patients and physicians, and their relationship as well. Physician empathy can help build trust in the patient-physician relationship, enhance patient-physician communication, prevent medical paternalism, improve patient satisfaction and health outcomes, and "support patient selfefficacy, treatment adherence, and disease management planning" [4][5][6][7]. Furthermore, physician empathy enhances the emotional wellbeing of physicians [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychometric Properties of the Greek Jefferson Scale of Empathy—Student Version among Undergraduate Medical Students and its Association with Potential Predictors

Voultsos,

Galanis,

Dafni

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Greek version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy—Student version (JSE-S) and its association with potential predictors among Greek-speaking undergraduate medical students. This study adopted a cross-sectional, comparative–descriptive research design. The study was conducted during October and November 2023. Cronbach’s α for the JSE-S was 0.846. Cronbach’s α values for the factors “perspective taking”, “compassionate care”, and “standing in the patient’s shoes” were 0.800, 0.715, and 0.748, respectively. The intraclass correlation coefficient for the JSE-S score in the test–retest study was 0.827 (95% CI = 0.647 to 0.915, p-value &lt; 0.001), indicating a high level of reliability. The participants showed moderate empathy levels. Females scored higher than males on the Greek version of the JSE-S (108.8 vs. 102.8, p-value &lt; 0.001). Moreover, students enrolled in the fourth academic year showed higher empathy mean scores than those enrolled in the first year (108.6 vs. 103.6, p-value = 0.012). Statistically significant empathy differences by specialty preferences or faith in God/supreme power were not found. The present study provided satisfactory evidence that the Greek JSE-S is a psychometrically sound measurement instrument. Empathy differences by gender were found in line with prior literature.

show abstract

The Effect of Practitioner Empathy on Patient Satisfaction

Cited by 12 publications

References 57 publications

Adapting to Decentralised Clinical Trials: Analysis of Trial Clinician's Experiences and Impacts on the Patient-Centred Experience (Preprint)

Adapting to Decentralised Clinical Trials: Analysis of Trial Clinician's Experiences and Impacts on the Patient-Centred Experience (Preprint)

The Greek Jefferson Scale of Empathy—Medical Student Version (JSE-S): Psychometric Properties and Its Associated Factors

Psychometric Properties of the Greek Jefferson Scale of Empathy—Student Version among Undergraduate Medical Students and its Association with Potential Predictors

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About