Association of Clinician Denial of Patient Requests With Patient Satisfaction

Abstract

Importance: Prior studies suggesting clinician fulfillment or denial of requests affects patient satisfaction included limited adjustment for patient confounders. The studies also did not examine distinct request types, yet patient expectations and clinician fulfillment or denial might vary among request types.

Objective: To examine how patient satisfaction with the clinician is associated with clinician denial of distinct types of patient requests, adjusting for patient characteristics.

Design, setting, and participants: Cross-sectional observational study of 1319 outpatient visits to family physicians (n = 56) by 1141 adults at one Northern California academic health center.

Main outcomes and measures: We used 6 Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Clinician and Group Adult Visit Survey items to measure patient satisfaction with the visit physician. Standardized items were averaged to form the satisfaction score (Cronbach α = 0.80), which was then percentile-transformed. Seven separate linear mixed-effects models examined the adjusted mean differences in patient satisfaction percentile associated with denial of each of the following requests (if present)-referral, pain medication, antibiotic, other new medication, laboratory test, radiology test, or other test-compared with fulfillment of the respective requests. The models adjusted for patient sociodemographics, weight, health status, personality, worry over health, prior visit with clinician, and the other 6 request categories and their dispositions.

Results: The mean (SD) age of the 1141 patients was 45.6 (16.1) years, and 902 (68.4%) were female. Among 1319 visits, 897 (68.0%) included at least 1 request; 1441 (85.2%) were fulfilled. Requests by category were referral, 294 (21.1%); pain medication, 271 (20.5%); antibiotic, 107 (8.1%); other new medication, 271 (20.5%); laboratory test, 448 (34.0%); radiology test, 153 (11.6%); and other tests, 147 (11.1%). Compared with fulfillment of the respective request type, clinician denials of requests for referral, pain medication, other new medication, and laboratory test were associated with worse satisfaction (adjusted mean percentile differences, -19.75 [95% CI, -30.75 to -8.74], -10.72 [95% CI, -19.66 to -1.78], -20.36 [95% CI, -29.54 to -11.18], and -9.19 [95% CI, -17.50 to -0.87]), respectively.

Conclusions and relevance: Clinician denial of some types of requests was associated with worse patient satisfaction with the clinician, but not for others, when compared with fulfillment of the requests. In an era of patient satisfaction-driven compensation, the findings suggest the need to train clinicians to deal effectively with requests, potentially enhancing patient and clinician experiences.

Figure.. Adjusted Mean Differences in Patient Satisfaction Percentile Associated With Clinician Denial of Requests

Dots indicate point estimates; bars indicate 95% CIs. Number of visits in each analysis: referral, 294; pain medication, 271; antibiotics, 107; other medication, 271; laboratory test, 448; radiology test, 153; other test, 147. Analytic reference (vertical line) for all request categories indicates fulfillment of request in the respective category. All analyses adjusted for the following patient characteristics: age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, marital status, body mass index, overall self-rated health, mental health status, medical skepticism, Five Factor Model personality factors, life satisfaction, worry about symptoms, and prior visit with the clinician. All analyses also adjusted for the 6 other request types (3-level categorical variables: no request in category, request in category denied, or request in category fulfilled).