Role expectations from doctors and effects on nonmedical outcomes

Abstract

Rationale, aims, and objectives: The predominant assumption of doctor professionalism may be prone to unpredicted alterations in the face of "a new age of doctoring."The aim in this study is to explore one dimension in the doctor-patient dyadic relationship: the face-to-face interaction between doctors and patients and whether satisfaction of role expectations affects service outcomes as perceived by the patient-consumer.Methods: In the first qualitative phase, 10 physicians and 11 patients were interviewed in-depth for the purposes of understanding the variations in role expectations from doctors. These details were then used to construct the scenarios to be used in the second quantitative phase. Scenario-based experimental data were collected using a cross-sectional sample consisting of 432 individuals.Results: Although positive emotions lead to positive outcomes when the doctor is role-congruent, positive emotions lead to even better outcomes when the doctor is behaving too friendly. In addition, negative emotions lead to negative outcomes in both scenarios; however, outcomes become worse when the doctor is roleincongruent.Conclusions: Role expectations play a moderating role between emotions and service outcomes. The medical performance can be perceived good or bad depending on whether the doctor smiles "too much" or not. Results are discussed within the context of role expectation theory and the changing nature of service relationships in the health care sector.

Patients’ experience with Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy for DLBCL in China: a qualitative study

“…For younger and middle-aged cancer patients, their negative emotions need attention, and the collective support from family and friends may foster positive feelings [42] . Medical staff should also communicate with patients more, in order to meet patients' expectations of doctors during their hospital visits [43] .…”

Informal consultations: a case report of a young doctor as a patient

“…When an individual relates to another person, both have expectations regarding the other, and both want to live up to those expectations. 16 Thus, when doctor--patients turn to a colleague for evaluation, they feel the need to demonstrate medical knowledge and reasoning, avoiding perceived failure. This subjectivity, together with the subconscious need to meet expectations, results in a clinical assessment subject to interference from the non-rational scope, which is associated with ethical, legal, psychosocial, and economic problems, with a potentially worse outcome and less satisfaction with the support provided.…”