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Treatment Availability Influences Physicians' Portrayal of Robotic Surgery During Clinical Appointments.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Scherr, KA; Fagerlin, A; Wei, JT; Williamson, LD; Ubel, PA
Published in: Health Commun
January 2017

In order to empower patients as decision makers, physicians must educate them about their treatment options in a factual, nonbiased manner. We propose that site-specific availability of treatment options may be a novel source of bias, whereby physicians describe treatments more positively when they are available. We performed a content analysis of physicians' descriptions of robotic prostatectomy within 252 appointments at four Veterans Affairs medical centers where robotic surgery was either available or unavailable. We coded how physicians portrayed robotic versus open prostatectomy across specific clinical categories and in the appointment overall. We found that physicians were more likely to describe robotic prostatectomy as superior when it was available [F(1, 42) = 8.65, p = .005]. We also provide initial qualitative evidence that physicians may be shaping their descriptions of robotic prostatectomy in an effort to manage patients' emotions and demand for the robotic technology. To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide empirical evidence that treatment availability influences how physicians describe the advantages and disadvantages of treatment alternatives to patients during clinical encounters, which has important practical implications for patient empowerment and patient satisfaction.

Duke Scholars

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Published In

Health Commun

DOI

EISSN

1532-7027

Publication Date

January 2017

Volume

32

Issue

1

Start / End Page

119 / 125

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • United States Department of Veterans Affairs
  • United States
  • Robotic Surgical Procedures
  • Public Health
  • Prostatectomy
  • Physicians
  • Physician-Patient Relations
  • Patient Education as Topic
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
 

Citation

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Chicago
ICMJE
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Scherr, K. A., Fagerlin, A., Wei, J. T., Williamson, L. D., & Ubel, P. A. (2017). Treatment Availability Influences Physicians' Portrayal of Robotic Surgery During Clinical Appointments. Health Commun, 32(1), 119–125. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2015.1099502
Scherr, Karen A., Angela Fagerlin, John T. Wei, Lillie D. Williamson, and Peter A. Ubel. “Treatment Availability Influences Physicians' Portrayal of Robotic Surgery During Clinical Appointments.Health Commun 32, no. 1 (January 2017): 119–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2015.1099502.
Scherr KA, Fagerlin A, Wei JT, Williamson LD, Ubel PA. Treatment Availability Influences Physicians' Portrayal of Robotic Surgery During Clinical Appointments. Health Commun. 2017 Jan;32(1):119–25.
Scherr, Karen A., et al. “Treatment Availability Influences Physicians' Portrayal of Robotic Surgery During Clinical Appointments.Health Commun, vol. 32, no. 1, Jan. 2017, pp. 119–25. Pubmed, doi:10.1080/10410236.2015.1099502.
Scherr KA, Fagerlin A, Wei JT, Williamson LD, Ubel PA. Treatment Availability Influences Physicians' Portrayal of Robotic Surgery During Clinical Appointments. Health Commun. 2017 Jan;32(1):119–125.

Published In

Health Commun

DOI

EISSN

1532-7027

Publication Date

January 2017

Volume

32

Issue

1

Start / End Page

119 / 125

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • United States Department of Veterans Affairs
  • United States
  • Robotic Surgical Procedures
  • Public Health
  • Prostatectomy
  • Physicians
  • Physician-Patient Relations
  • Patient Education as Topic
  • Middle Aged
  • Male