Health News

Patients demand more education from the doctor

Patient Survey: One in five wishes for better information from the attending physician.

(17.06.2010) About every fifth patient wishes for a better education by the doctor. Patients should be better involved in decisions about upcoming therapies and treatments, according to a study commissioned by Techniker Krankenkasse (TK). The health insurance had had around 1000 people questioned by an opinion institute. The main objective of the survey was to measure the satisfaction of outpatient treatment in private physicians.

It often takes a long time to find the right doctor. Many doctors have a regular "through traffic". There is hardly time for an in-depth conversation between doctor and patient. In large medical practices in particular, many doctors hardly spend time with their patients and often do not give transparent insights into the upcoming treatments. For example, around 60 percent of respondents said that they are not sufficiently informed about alternatives to possible therapies. "Doctors and patients do not always meet at eye level", says the head of the TK-Krankenkasse, Norbert Klusen. About 40 percent of the respondents also stated that they are not sufficiently informed about possible side effects of drugs. Overall, however, 95 percent of the patients are "the bottom line" satisfied with their doctor. Satisfaction grows when patients stay with the doctor for longer, according to the study results.

In this context, the health insurance also indicates that the German citizens too often go to the doctor. About half of the study participants said they had been at the doctor at least once during the last four weeks. About 90 percent of respondents said they had been to the doctor in the past six months. Of course, this could also be an indication that the consultation with the doctor was too short and too transparent.

Another result of the survey makes one sit up and take notice. About 50 percent of respondents said they were "chronically ill". For the health insurance, this is an indication that there is a high level of so-called claims towards the doctors. However, from our point of view, it could also be the case that the forms of treatment are not sufficient and the core of the illness could not be determined. If about 60 percent of the respondents complain that they are not sufficiently informed about possible alternatives, this could be related.

Recently, the AOK has put a so-called doctor navigator on the net. AOK patients can rate their doctor online and answer about 30 questions. This should give patients a better overview of which doctor takes enough time for treatments and how long the waiting times were. (Sb)