title: The effect of surgeon empathy and emotional intelligence on patient satisfaction.
abstract: We investigated the associations of surgeons' emotional intelligence and surgeons' empathy with patient-surgeon relationships, patient perceptions of their health, and patient satisfaction before and after surgical procedures. We used multi-source approaches to survey 50 surgeons and their 549 outpatients during initial and follow-up visits. Surgeons' emotional intelligence had a positive effect (r = .45; p < .001) on patient-rated patient-surgeon relationships. Patient-surgeon relationships had a positive impact on patient satisfaction before surgery (r = .95; p < .001). Surgeon empathy did not have an effect on patient-surgeon relationships or patient satisfaction prior to surgery. But after surgery, surgeon empathy appeared to have a significantly positive and indirect effect on patient satisfaction through the mediating effect of patients' self-reported health status (r = .21; p < .001). Our study showed that long-term patient satisfaction with their surgeons is affected less by emotional intelligence than by empathy. Furthermore, empathy indirectly affects patient satisfaction through its positive effect on health outcomes, which have a direct effect on patients' satisfaction with their surgeons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Management, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung County, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hui-Ching
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.forename: James F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Steed
authors.forename: Shang-Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Yi-Ten
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Chia-Chang
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Tsan-Jung
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Wency
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D056348:Emotional Intelligence; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D013502:General Surgery; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult