Attention, Eye Contact And Time

Some patient wants are beyond satisfaction by even the best, most caring doctor, such as the wish your physician could cure whatever ails you. That said, a responsive doctor should be able to meet patient expectations on a number of more basic points, concluded a 2003 piece in the British Medical Journal.

Mike Stone, director of the Patients Association, Harrow, listed the following traits as among those that patients say they want from their doctor and that should be possible.

Eye contact. It's a bad sign, Stone said, when a doctor is so engrossed in his computer screen that he doesn't look up even to ask why you've come to see him.

Partnership. Patients, wrote Stone, "want to be people whom doctors do things with, not people that doctors do things to. Patients want to be consulted about their condition, their treatment, and how things will progress from the consultation."

Communication. Patients say they want a doctor who is willing to listen to their concerns and capable of conveying his or hers. Wrote Stone: "Just as doctors may have trouble understanding a patient's explanation of symptoms, so patients may have trouble understanding a doctor's explanation of the diagnosis."

Time. A plea for longer visits tops patients' wish lists.

Appointments. Patients want to be able to schedule a visit in "a reasonable time" -- within a few days, not weeks, and even faster if they're sick.