An anatomy of conflicts in primary care encounters: a multi-method study.
BACKGROUND
Medical consultations are replete with conflicts, particularly in the current era of explicit and implicit rationing practices in health care organizations. Although such conflicts may challenge the doctor-patient relationship, little is known about them or their consequences.


OBJECTIVE
To systematically describe the nature of doctor-patient conflicts in medical encounters and the strategies physicians use when faced with conflicts.


METHODS
Analysis of 291 videotaped routine encounters with 28 general practitioners, using a novel adaptation of the Roter interaction analysis system software, provided quantitative empirical data on the conflicts and on the communication process. Seven focus groups (56 GPs) provided qualitative insights and guided the analysis.


RESULTS
Conflicts were identified in 40% of consultations; 21% of these were related to the rationing of health care resources. In conflictual encounters, both the opening and closing phases of the encounter were shorter than in non-conflictual encounters. In coping with resource rationing, the commonest strategy was to accept the dictates of the system without telling the patients about other options. When conflict of this type occurred, doctors showed more opposition to the patients rather than empathy.


CONCLUSIONS
Doctors often face conflicts in their routine work, but resource-related conflicts are especially difficult and expose the dual loyalties of the doctor to the patient and to the system. Insights derived from this research can be used to design training interventions that improve doctors' efficacy in coping with conflicts and ultimately allow them to provide better patient care.
Weingarten
Michael A
MA
Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Israel. weingml@post.tau.ac.il
Guttman
Nurit
N
Abramovitch
Henry
H
Margalit
Ruth Stashevsky
RS
Roter
Debra
D
Ziv
Amitai
A
Yaphe
John
J
Borkan
Jeffrey M
JM
D000328:Adult; D034462:Dissent and Disputes; D004501:Education, Medical; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011320:Primary Health Care; D014743:Videotape Recording