Effect of physician disclosure of specialty bias on patient trust and treatment choice
Sah and colleagues asked how patients respond when a physician discloses a specialty-related bias. Disclosure is common in medicine and finance, where advisers can have incentives that conflict with their clients' interests. The study draws on recorded surgeon and patient consultations and on a randomised laboratory experiment. Disclosing the specialty bias increased patients' trust and increased their likelihood of choosing the treatment favoured by the physician's specialty. The authors suggest that professionals and policymakers weigh these effects on trust and choice when recommending bias disclosure.
Sah and colleagues asked how patients respond when a physician discloses a specialty-related bias. Disclosure is common in medicine and finance, where advisers can have incentives that conflict with their clients' interests. The study draws on recorded surgeon and patient consultations and on a randomised laboratory experiment. Disclosing the specialty bias increased patients' trust and increased their likelihood of choosing the treatment favoured by the physician's specialty. The authors suggest that professionals and policymakers weigh these effects on trust and choice when recommending bias disclosure.
Written from the abstract, Crossref record.
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Sah, S., Fagerlin, A., & Ubel, P. (2016). Effect of physician disclosure of specialty bias on patient trust and treatment choice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(27), 7465-7469. doi:10.1073/pnas.1604908113