[Some behavioral characteristics of physicians desired by ambulatory patients. A pilot survey].
OBJECTIVE
We must pay attention to character formation of Medical Doctors because it could build a good or bad relationship with colleagues and patients: it is not a merely "humanistic" goal but a necessary component of professional excellence. The first endpoint of this study is to identify how to improve the quality of the outpatient visit.


METHODS
We tested a user-friendly questionnaire, distributed to 100 patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The most important behavioral characteristics desired by patients from physicians are: 1. to have the physician's attention without feeling hurried (such as without the physician answering a phone call during the office visit); 2. to have continuity of care even in the ambulatory setting; 3. to find a relationship of empathy, participation and sharing; 4. to have a peaceful relationship of collaboration with the nurses and other health care personnel; 5. to find the physician appropriately groomed and dressed; 6. to receive the full diagnosis with clarity and at the most appropriate moment of communication.
Tambone
V
V
Dipartimento di Antropologia ed Etica Applicata, Università Campus Biomedico di Roma, Italia. v.tambone@unicampus.it
De Virgilio
A
A
Paolini
A
A
Paviglianiti
A
A
Picconi
F
F
Pietrapertosa
G
G
Rega
D
D
Ricciardi
R
R
Spada
A
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000592:standards*; D001288:Attention; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010358:Patient Participation; D010361:Patients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010820:Physicians / Q000592:standards*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014342:Truth Disclosure