Patients Around the World are Not Happy with Their Physicians, Feeling Disrespected, Hurried through Visits and Shut out of Treatment Decisions

New studies by SSI and The Research Intelligence Group (TRiG)
show that two-thirds of patients around the world feel disrespected
by their physicians.  Unclear communication is a prime reason
for patients’ dissatisfaction.  About a quarter of patients
globally complain that physicians don’t answer questions, don’t
involve them in treatment decisions and use medical terms with no
explanation.  This appears to be a direct outcome of doctors
not spending enough time with patients (44%).  About a third
of patients also believe doctors show disrespect by not being
punctual for appointments.  

Patients in China (55%) and Germany (51%) are particularly
displeased with the limited time they get from their doctors.
 Chinese patients are also far more likely than respondents in
other countries to say their doctors don’t explain medical
terminology.  In contrast, in Australia (55%), France (48%)
and the US (46%) patients are much more concerned about physicians’
lack of punctuality.

“Clearly, people are not experiencing the level of service and
respect they see in other arenas in their doctors’ offices,” says
Chris DeAngelis, SSI’s Vice President, Strategic Initiatives.
 ”When we look across 23 countries, we see that only 3 in 10
patients rate the care they receive from their doctors as excellent
– and less than half would recommend their physicians.”

Around the world, patients’ unwillingness to recommend their
doctors is primarily due to long wait times (26%).  The one
exception is China, where the number one reason patients would not
recommend their doctors is “lack of medical expertise” (44%).
 In fact, more than half of Chinese patients report their
doctors need to improve both the instructions they give on
follow-up care and the thoroughness of exams, areas only 12% of US
patients and a fifth of patients globally see as problems.

“Although there are serious problems in the physician/patient
relationship in all countries, Chinese respondents appear most
unhappy with their doctors,” says David Kweskin, Senior Vice
President of TRiG.  ”For example, while 43% of patients in
Australia and about a third in the US, UK and Sweden rate the care
their doctors provides as excellent, only 8% of Chinese respondents
believe they get excellent care.  In addition, 62% of Chinese
patients say that their doctors disrespect them compared to just
12% of US patients.”

Only a Quarter of
Patients Are Satisfied with Their Involvement in Treatment
Decisions

The SSI and TRiG studies show that only a quarter of patients
are happy with their involvement in treatment decisions.
 Almost half of patients around the world (46%) say that they
would be more satisfied if physicians would explain the treatment
process and possible side effects in more detail.  Chinese
respondents in particular (72%) are looking for more detailed
explanations.  

Around the world, “listening to patient concerns” is the second
most selected option (37%) when patients name the action that would
increase their satisfaction with the treatment decision process.
 Again, this was a particularly glaring issue among Chinese
respondents (64%).  Other key improvements patients would like
to see include physicians spending more time discussing options
(32% globally) and greater availability of literature about
specific medical conditions (23% globally).

Insights Drawn
from Two Global Studies

The insights into the physician/patient relationship are drawn
from two global studies.  The first is TRiG’s online study of
22,581 adults in 23 countries — executed through the World
Independent Network of Market Research (WIN™), founded by TRiG.
 The second — designed to delve into the reasons behind the
extensive TRiG findings — is SSI’s online study of 5,000+ adults
in the US, UK, Germany, France, Japan, Australia, China, Singapore
and Sweden. SSI offers extensive worldwide reach to support survey
research through SSI Dynamix™, its dynamic sampling platform that
links to its own global online panels, as well as Web sites, social
media, affiliate partnerships and more.

About SSI…

Bringing together Survey Sampling International and
Opinionology, SSI ( href="www.surveysampling.com/">www.surveysampling.com)
is the premier global provider of world-leading sampling, data
collection and data analytic solutions for survey research.
 SSI reaches respondents in 72 countries via Internet,
telephone, mobile/wireless and mixed access offerings.
 Value-add services include questionnaire design consultation,
programming and hosting, data processing and real-time reporting.
 SSI serves more than 2,000 clients, including the top 50
research organizations. It has 30 offices serving clients around
the world.

About The Research
Intelligence Group…

TRiG ( href="www.trig-us.com/">www.trig-us.com) is a
major US -based primary market research consulting firm in the
Healthcare industry providing global guidance to pharmaceutical and
health related companies.  In particular, it focuses on the
patient-physician relationships and understanding the patient
journey…including both Rx and OTC brands.

Ilene Siegalovsky, Vice President, Global Marketing, +1-203-567-7230, ilene.siegalovsky at surveysampling.com; or David Kweskin, Senior Vice President, +1-203-321-8528, DKweskin at trig-us.com