Often, patients- especially with chronic disorders- are most likely to have disagreements with their doctors as to the severity of their disease. For instance, a recent study demonstrated that patient reports of disease activity on global assessment tools were higher than those on provider global assessment. Almost 33% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis disagreed with their provider as to the severity of their disease, while almost 29% thought their disease severity was worse than their doctor thought it was. Moreover, the findings suggested that such disagreements between patients and their healthcare providers contribute to decreased treatment outcomes, reduced patient adherence, impaired patient retention, and overall work productivity of healthcare providers.
How do you manage such differences with your patients? Source: Challa, D.N., et al. "Patient-provider discordance…
