When Physicians and Patients Think Alike: Patient-Centered Beliefs and Their Impact on Satisfaction and Trust

Conclusions

In the light of the demonstrated relationship of congruence to trust and endorsement, it is striking that visit satisfaction did not reflect the same strength of relationship with congruence, even though the outcome measures were themselves highly correlated. We suggest that this pattern reflects the manner in which belief congruence operates within the physician-patient relationship. That is, even when patient and physician have a shared sense of how much control makes them both feel comfortable, this may not be reflected in the success of any single encounter. Attempts to meet a patient’s expectation do not always result in visit satisfaction.²⁷ Yet when physicians and patients begin with similar world views about medical practice or when they negotiate a meeting of the minds in the course of their relationship, it is likely that this is reflected in patients’ global positive sentiments, the kind that are indicated by endorsement and trust.

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by a grant from the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation (#034384). The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the 45 participating physicians and their patients. Thanks also go to Sara Lu Vorhes, Steven Kelly-Reif, and David Omerod for assistance with physician recruitment and data collection; to Christine Harlan for budgetary management; and to the staff of the Patient-Provider Relationship Initiative (Bernard Lo, Director) for technical assistance. No conflict of interest.