Table 2.
Patient and Physician Ratings of ‘Very Good’ or ‘Excellent’ Care in Vignettes.a
| Vignette | Patients (n =203)b |
Physicians (N= 151) |
P value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | % (95% CI) | N | % (95% CI) | |||
| Headache: patient A has a headache and is worried about brain cancer, asks PCP for CT scan | ||||||
| Part 1: PCP does not recommend or order a CT | 72 | 36 (29.5–42.9) | 123 | 81 (74.3–87.3) | <0.001 | |
| Part 2: PCP explains potential harms of CT radiation exposure | 103 | 51 (44.3–58.2) | 96 | 64 (56.7–72.1) | 0.01 | |
| Part 3: patient A seeks a second opinion from a different doctor who orders a CT scan | 60 | 30 (23.5–36.2) | 8 | 5 (1.7–8.9) | <0.001 | |
| Upper respiratory infection: patient B has a runny nose, headaches, no fever and asks PCP for antibiotics | ||||||
| Part 1: PCP does not prescribe antibiotics | 132 | 66 (59.1–72.2) | 143 | 95 (92.0–98.7) | <0.001 | |
| Part 2: PCP explains American Academy of Family Physician guidelines, which do not recommend antibiotics for sinus infections | 161 | 81 (75.0–86.0) |
143 | 95 (91.1, 98.3) | <0.001 | |
Abbreviation: CT, computed tomography; PCP, primary care physician
a
Respondents were asked to rate care provided by the doctor in each vignette on a 5-item scale from ‘poor’ to ‘excellent’. Values reported are number and percentage rating care as ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’, except part 3 of the headache vignette, which we divided into ‘good/very good/excellent’
b
The number of respondents varied between 199 and 203 as some respondents did not answer all questions.