Physicians Interrupting Patients

Excerpt

Drs. Mohammed and Yeung bring to light the immense challenge of balancing extremely constrained visit times and the importance of giving patients time to voice their agenda and tell their story during a clinical encounter. It is, in many situations, unrealistic for clinicians to complete an acute complaint visit much less a thorough wellness examination (annual physical) in the short timeframes often allotted and accepted for these visits—with or without uninterrupted listening. We recognize with empathy this ever-present tension and the reality that, in most contexts, clinicians have little power to control visit times. Despite this, we believe it is our calling to improve the quality of care by allowing patients to feel heard and to respond to them with the care that advances their particular situation. Moreover, the notion of accepting as adequate a system that makes well intentioned clinicians feel ineffective or poor at time management for taking time to listen and care for their patients should be at least questioned, if not vigorously challenged.¹ …