Patients Speak: What's Really Important About Bedside Interactions With Physician Teams

Background: Although it may take up relatively little time, hospitalized patients' interactions with their physicians are important elements of their hospital experience. Purpose: We conducted a qualitative study to explore what is important to patients about bedside interactions with their physician teams. Methods: We interviewed medical inpatients and used grounded theory methodology to analyze interview transcripts. Results: We recruited 17 patients from an academic medical center including a university hospital and a Veterans Administration (VA) hospital. We found that important aspects of patient–team interactions included the exchange of information, evidence of caring from their team, involvement in teaching, knowing the team members, and bedside manner. Patients also described team characteristics that were important to them such as team attributes and intrateam collaboration. Conclusions: This model clarifies the aspects of bedside interactions that patients value and will allow physicians to foc...