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June 12, 2007 -- When it comes to the doctor-patient relationship, patients have some pretty specific ideas about how they want their doctors to greet them when they first meet.
A new study shows that most patients want their doctors to shake their hands, greet them by name, and introduce themselves using their first and last name.
The researchers, who work in Chicago at Northwestern University's medical school, also recommend that doctors explain their role, such as telling the patient, "I'm Janet Jones, a resident working with Dr. Franklin."
After all, "greetings create a first impression that may extend far beyond what is conventionally seen as 'bedside manner,'" write Gregory Makoul, PhD, and colleagues in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
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Makoul's team interviewed 415 U.S. adults by telephone about how they want their doctors to greet them.
Patients were 18-88 years old (average age: 47). Most were white women.
The patients answered these questions:
The researchers also videotaped 123 greetings between doctors and new patients.
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Most patients -- 78% -- said they wanted their doctor to shake their hand.
Half said they want their doctor to greet them by their first name. Nearly a quarter said they wanted to be greeted by their first and last name.
Another 17% said they only wanted their last name used (for instance, calling them "Ms. Smith"). African-American patients were particularly likely to express that preference.
The patients also had specific ideas about how they wanted their new doctor to introduce himself or herself.
More than half of patients -- 56% -- said they wanted their doctor to introduce themselves using their first and last name. Thirty-two percent?said they wanted their doctors just to use their last name. Relatively few -- 7% -- said they wanted their doctor just to use his or her first name; the rest expressed no preference.
Less than half of the patients answered the question about other things their doctor should do when they first meet. Their top requests were for doctors to do the following:
In most of the videos -- 82% -- doctors and patients shook hands. But in half of the videotaped doctor-patient meetings, half of the doctors never mentioned the patient's name at all.
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Based on the survey, the researchers came up with a simple script for doctors to use in greeting new patients.
"If Dr. Robert Franklin is meeting Ms. Jane Smith, we would suggest that he say: "Jane Smith? Hi, I'm Bob Franklin."
Makoul and colleagues also suggest that doctors ask their new patients how they want to be addressed and put those preferences in the patient's medical records for future reference.
"On return visits, we suggest that previous meetings be acknowledged during the greeting (e.g., "Hello, Ms. Smith; good to see you again). Greetings in return visits can convey a great deal about how much a physician remembers or cares about a patient," write the researchers.