Do You Let Your Doctor Shake Your Hand?

How much actual face time do you get with your doctor during clinic visits, especially during a first-time visit? It might be 15 minutes or less, depending on the clinic and the specific type of health concern: 15 minutes might be sufficient to handle a wart on the finger but totally inadequate for new-onset chest pain!

Since time is so brief, it is essential that the doctor and patient be able to quickly establish some type of rapport. Without mutual trust (however superficial) the exchange of patient information and the comprehension of treatment options will be severely limited.

Forgive this digression: Why is the 't' silent in rapport but spoken in support?

Anyway, what are the most effective icebreakers? (HINT: Whassup usually doesn't work!)

According to data collected by the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University (Chicago) a friendly greeting and handshake are the most-preferred techniques to quickly open communications between patients and their doctors. Sadly, today's rushed clinicians often arrive loaded down with charts and exam equipment. They may already be wearing gloves and everybody knows that nothing says "howdy" better than a moist rubber glove!

Telephone surveys were performed involving health consumers in every state except Alaska and Hawaii (not sure why they were excluded). Videotaped interactions involving hundreds of clinic encounters were also studied to observe the effect of different approaches used by physicians attempting to engage their new patients.

Here's how patients responded to the question: "How would you want doctors to greet you the first time you meet?"

• 78% want the doctor to shake their hand (hopefully after it is washed!)


• 50% want to be addressed by their first name


• 56% want their doctors to introduce themselves by their first and last name

Analysis of the videotapes recorded handshakes 83% of the time, but in half of these initial visits the doctor never addressed the patient by their name in any form whatsoever, as in, 'This may feel cold, er, pal!'

What works for you? Do you care about creating a relationship or would you rather just get down to business? Do you suspect the doctor feels the same way? With so many visitors to this WebMD blog I bet we can generate our own statistical summary.

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine (June 2007) pages 1172-1176.

Related Topics:

• WebMD Video: Practicing the Human Side of Being a Doctor
• WebMD Video: Coping With Wait Time in Your Doctor’s Office

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