While 9 in 10 patients believe the patient-physician relationship is the most essential component of high-quality healthcare, just 1 in 10 patients feel they get enough face time with their physicians, according to a survey commissioned by The Physicians Foundation. The survey, conducted by Regina Corso Consulting, polled nearly 1,750 American adults ages 27 to 75 in June 2017. Participants had at least two visits with the same physician in the past year. The survey indicated patients are overall extremely satisfied with their primary care physicians (95 percent), but the majority (65 percent) said time is always or often short during visits. Just over half of patients (53 percent) believed physicians were at capacity in terms of workload. The results also indicated patients want their physicians to take a greater role in their care and in healthcare reform in general. Most patients (87 percent) said they felt physicians should have the most influence over their care, but 69 percent said payers actually had the most influence. Meanwhile, 90 percent of patients wanted to see physicians at the forefront of discussions on healthcare quality, cost and access. Source
