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

Four investigators measured consultation time and assessed patient-centeredness. They were educated about the purpose of the pilot study, patient selection criteria, and survey methods. Each investigator participated in the in-depth outpatient consultations for 1 week, to conduct the preliminary investigation with the researcher. To offset differences among investigators, the consultation department was alternated during the research period. The patient-centeredness assessment was adapted from that currently used by the patient experience assessment of HIRA, after excluding items on hospitalization services and hospital environment. 10 The resulting survey assessed 1) physician's professionalism during outpatient consultation at each participating department, 2) wait and consultation time, 3) treatment process, 4) protection of patients' rights, 5) patients' overall satisfaction, and 6) patients' general characteristics (Supplementary Table 1 ). The in-depth consultation group was also asked about their willingness to pay for the service they received.