Doctors: How long do you interview your patients? You start out by reviewing your patient’s chart. The door opens and the patient interview begins. You ask about their chief complaint, associated signs and symptoms, timeline of events and treatment done. You do a physical examination and explore a little into their past medical history. You then explain to the patient their problem and hand them prescriptions and instructions. You tell the patient about their follow up and end the interview with a few kind words. From the start to the end of the interview, how long does it take? Only time can tell In medical school, we were taught on how to do a patient interview. We were told on what to ask to come up with a complete history and how to perform a thorough physical examination. We used to have mock patient interviews with classmates and later got to interview patients in the hospital by groups. To be able to achieve all of what was taught we would need at least 30 minutes minimum to get it all done. It takes a few years of practice to get the interview done adequately and quickly. As a student, we would be crawling in the dark so to speak. It takes time for us to adjust to the low light and get the work done faster. We do not always have the luxury to spend 30 minutes with every patient especially if we have a long line of patients waiting outside. Ideally it is advised to limit the number of patients a day so as to give them the devoted time they need. Clinics would have set schedules for patients so they can be seen on the said times. In the U.S. and Sweden, patient interviews would last between 10 to 20 minutes as in Great Britain it would last a mere five to eight minutes. The speed interview Definitely the setting of the doctor-patient interview would contribute to the duration. Emergency room interviews as compared to regular clinic visits are definitely short and quick. Interviews done in the ER are more targeted and focused to find the solution quickly. Sometimes the doctor may seem to be tongue tied as they speak so quickly. Since the cases are emergent in nature they need to find the answer immediately. Clinic interviews are a whole different setting but we cannot dilly dally either as other patients are in need of our services as well. Now you see me, now you don't Like a disappearing act, it is a common complaint from patients that the doctor-patient encounter is too short. One minute they are being interviewed and the next, they are out the door with instructions in hand. Patients tend to voice out that they were not able to ask their doctor the questions they wanted to because there was not enough time. According to a study by Roland et. al entitled, "The “five minute” consultation: effect of time constraint on clinical content and patient satisfaction.”, they found that doctors who increase their patient interview times were able to ask more questions about health history as well as psychosocial concerns. Having longer visits as well allowed the doctor to give more information regarding health education and prevention. Decreased patient satisfaction Not having enough time with the doctor leads to decreased patient satisfaction. Beisecker found that interviews done under 18 minutes led to lesser information seeking on the part of the patient. When the visits were over 18 minutes, the patients showed more interest and had increased information seeking behavior. The more the patient gets to participate and gets educated from the encounter, the more satisfied they are. Source
