Professionalism and patient-centred care – patients' views and experience
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
Background: Doctors’ demonstration of professionalism and adoption of a patient-centred care (PCC) approach are two important elements that affect patients’ experience and satisfaction of service, influencing the trust between doctors and patients to a certain degree. In the past two decades, the number of medical disputes and violence against doctors has escalated despite the significant changes introduced to the Chinese public hospital system. Studies have tried to clarify the reasons, but there is limited evidence examining inpatient perceptions of medical practice, inpatients’ actual experience of the professional practice of doctors and the adoption of patient-centred approaches, in particularly consultation on their preferences. Methods: The quantitative study collected data via a paper-based questionnaire with multiple choice questions which was distributed to inpatients who had received their discharge notice from two hospitals (Level III and Level II) in Jinan, China. Questions were developed informed by previous studies and discussions with project members. Data were manually double entered into two MS Excel files and underwent error checking before imported into one IBM SPSS version 25 file. Descriptive statistics were performed on all variables. The dependent variables were analysed by independent variables such as hospital, department, gender, residence, age group, education, occupation and annual income by cross tabulation and chi square tests. Results: A total of 1,183 inpatients discharged from the surgical and medical departments from the two hospitals participated in the survey yielding a 93% response rate. The study confirms that more than 80% of the patients held their doctors in high regard and had a positive experience of the doctor-patient interaction. However, negative responses consistently received from 2–5% of patients should not be ignored. Conclusions: The paper argues that hospitals should promote a PCC approach fostering patient consultation and support a no-blame culture. An assessment of patient experience linked with quality of care should be incorporated into the ongoing performance review process. A clear legal framework and procedures that protect both patients and doctors in times of medical dispute are required. In addition, medical education and training should include the development of the concepts of ‘professionalism’ and ‘patient-centred care’ for future medical practitioners.
Journal
Journal of Hospital Management and Health Policy
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Volume
7
ISBN/ISSN
2523-2533
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Pages Count
10
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Publisher
AME Publishing
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EISSN
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DOI
10.21037/jhmhp-23-98