The physician's role in educating patients - A comparison of mailed versusphysician-delivered patient education

BACKGROUND Patients value receiving educational information during office v isits, but physicians often lack the time or training to satisfy this need. We examined whether an increased physician role in educating patients is a n effective means of improving patient satisfaction. METHODS Using a nonrandomized controlled research design, we compared patie nt satisfaction with self-care information provided by traditional direct-m ail approaches and by physicians during routine office visits. We also stud ied a control group of patients receiving usual care. RESULTS Patients who recieved a medical self-care book from a physician wer e significantly more likely to be satisfied with their office visit than th ose who received ed the book in the mail or those who experienced usual car e. The intervention group reported greater satisfaction with 11 out of 13 v ariables ables related to physician-patient this article by patient communi cation and quality of care. There were no significant differences between t he control group and the direct-mail group. CONCLUSIONS The patients who received self-care information from their phys icians were significantly more satisfied with their care and their physicia n-patient communication experience than those in either the direct-mail gro up or the control group. Our findings lend support to the growing evidence that patients informed by their physicians are more satisfied with their ca re.