Doctor! Did you Google my symptoms? A qualitative study of patient perceptions of doctors’ point-of-care information seeking

Abstract

ObjectiveTo explore patient perceptions regarding doctors’ information seeking during consultations.Design and settingQualitative interviews with participants from six general practice waiting rooms in South East Queensland, Australia. Participants were asked about their experiences and opinions, and to comment on short videos of simulated consultations in which a doctor sought information. The interviews were analysed through a process of iterative thematic analysis using the framework of Braun and Clarke.ParticipantsThe 16 participants were purposively sampled including 5 men and 11 women from a diverse range of educational and age groups.ResultsHow a doctor’s need to look up information impacted patient impressions of competence and trust was an overarching theme. The four dominant themes include: the trust a patient has in the doctor before the consultation, whether the doctor is expected to know the answer to a question without searching, has the doctor added value to the consultation by searching and the consultation skills used in the process.ConclusionsPatient trust is fundamental to positive perceptions of general practitioners’ information seeking at the point-of-care. Communication is key to building this trust. Understanding the patient’s agenda, listening, assessing thoroughly and being honest and transparent about the need to seek information all contribute to a positive experience.

Trust in Clinical Practice: A Systematic Review

“…Another scenario where trust in their doctor would reassure patients of their safety is one in which their doctor searches the internet to help choose the patient's treatment. A study by [18] examined the opinions of patients on doctors using the internet to help treat them. The main finding was that patients were less upset by their doctor showing a gap in their knowledge if they already trusted their doctor and found them to be competent.…”

“…The main finding was that patients were less upset by their doctor showing a gap in their knowledge if they already trusted their doctor and found them to be competent. One patient said they trusted their doctor "regardless of her competence...unless...it's preposterously incompetent" [18]. Other factors that improved the patients' attitude toward this practice included a general trust in medicine [18].…”

“…One patient said they trusted their doctor "regardless of her competence...unless...it's preposterously incompetent" [18]. Other factors that improved the patients' attitude toward this practice included a general trust in medicine [18].…”

How to ‘Google’ in front of the patient: A practical approach to information seeking during the consultation

“…Here we present practical suggestions for how doctors in ambulatory settings could incorporate the findings of our recently published qualitative study of semistructured interviews with Australian general practice patients exploring their perspectives on doctors' information seeking at the point of care. 10 Given that our study is the only piece of research exploring the patient voice on this topic, we have also drawn from literature in adjacent areas (eg the use of electronic medical records, computers and other digital devices in the consulting room). Box 1 provides a summary of the seven tips outlined below.…”

Why and When Physicians Google: Resident Physicians’ Information-Seeking Strategies During Patient Consultations

“…Research shows that clinicians only conduct a digital search for a minority of their questions, due to time constraints, technical issues, lack of reliable resources, personal skills and attitudes, among other reasons [7]. More research is needed to explore clinicians' views on medical information-seeking and decision-making, to better understand this complex, expanding part of patient consultations [8,9].…”