Patients want personality, bedside manner from their physicians

In an analysis of more than seven million physician reviews released by Healthgrades and MGMA, 52 percent of patients mention the need for their doctor to have at least one of the following: Compassion, comfort, patience, personality or bedside manner.

“It’s clear from the data what most people already intuitively know: The patient experience extends deeper and further than the walls of a surgical suite or exam room, says Halee Fischer-Wright, MD, MMM, CMPE, president and CEO, MGMA. “Our data corroborates the crucial nature of our members’ role in the support of the physician-patient relationship through people, process and technology.”

The analysis reveals the factors patients consistently cite as being most important to their overall experience with a provider. Overwhelmingly, patients highlight non-clinical factors when evaluating care quality, including physician personality, time spent with the physician and interactions with office staff.

“MGMA’s participation in the study is important because doctors are known to scoff at measuring non-clinical aspects of their practice,” says Bruce Japsen in his Forbes article on the analysis.

Download the full report.