Patient-Centeredness during In-Depth Consultation in the Outpatient Clinic of a Tertiary Hospital in Korea: Paradigm Shift from Disease to Patient

Sohn, Kyoung-Hee; Nam, Sarah; Joo, Jungmin; Kwon, Yong Jin; Yim, Jae-Joon

Scores on all five items in the survey regarding the patient-centeredness of the outpatient consultation department's physician were higher for participants in the in-depth consultation group (Fig. 1). In particular, the level of understanding of the physician's explanations was significantly higher at 3.74 in the in-depth consultation group vs. 3.28 in the control group (P < 0.001). While 92.4% of the participants in the in-depth consultation group reported that the consultation time was sufficient, only 69.0% of those in the control group responded the same (P < 0.001). Similarly, the in-depth consultation group exhibited higher scores on all three items pertaining to the treatment process. Finally, scores on 3 out of 4 items regarding protection of patient rights were significantly higher among participants in the in-depth consultation group.