Table 2.
Initial codes, subcategories and categories of ethical issues in family medicine from the perspective of service receivers
| Category | Subcategory | Initial codes (example) |
|---|---|---|
| Responsibility | Sufficient time for visiting the patient | Not allocating enough time/ enough and real time for patient/ optimal visit length based on referral type/ optimal visit length based on questioning/ fast visiting/ impatience |
| Accurate diagnosis and prognosis | Accurate examining/ asking a lot of questions/ accurate diagnosis | |
| Consult with colleagues | Not-consulting with colleagues/ not-consulting with specialists | |
| Monitoring treatment process | Monitoring referrals/ not-monitoring/ possibility for calling after office hours/ non possibility for calling after office hours | |
| Responsibility about medical errors and/or mistakes | No mistaking/ not informing about the mistake/ mistake in diagnosis and treatment/ not responsibility about diagnosis and treatment | |
| Patient's privacy | Providing safety for patient | Closing the door when visiting/ separation of doctor's room/ non separation of doctor's room/ accessibility to a private space/ separate examination |
| Confidentiality and secrecy | Recording information by someone else/ opening the room's door | |
| Informed consent | Emphasizing patient's requests | No asking for patient's need and problem/ not paying attention to patient's opinion |
| Consult with patient about treatment process | Consultation of drug prescription | |
| Respect and dignity of patient | Indiscrimination | Be fair with all patients/ patients with child playfulness/ patients with adults/ special attention to relatives |
| Respect to patient | Be friendly/ standing or half raising to respect patient/ dignity in talking and behavior/ insulting/ crossness or aggression/ providing a calm space | |
| Effective physician-patient communication | Comfort, intimacy, and communion | Comfort with a doctor of same gender/ comfort and intimacy/ relationship of father-child kind/ non comfort/ comfort with familiar doctor/ non comfort with specialist/ specialist' pride and prejudice/ economic perspective of healthcare operations/ no respecting to patient by specialist/ non possibility to talk with specialist/ stand silence and no explaining when no asking question by patient |
| More accessibility to doctor | Possibility for calling after office hours/ non possibility for calling after office hours | |
| Paying attention to patient's confabulate and non-medical problems | Paying attention to patient's confabulate and non-medical problems/ non awareness of paying attention to non-medical problems when no discussing | |
| Mutual understanding | Tendency toward friendly and family relationship/ non tendency toward friendly and family relationship/ only by calling for questioning and guidance/ better understanding to improve trust and confidence | |
| Cultural matching | Better performance of religious doctors/ cultural, belief and age congruity | |
| Trust in physician | Trust in doctor's academic knowledge | More trust to specialist/ busy clinic leads to trusts or distrust to family doctor (general doctor) |
| Trust in doctor's behavior | Non moral trust/ trust to patient's behavior | |
| Conflict of interests | Self-referral or referring to friends | Advice to refer an certain pharmacy/ advice to refer an certain laboratory/ advice to refer an certain specialist |
| Bribery | Receiving bribe/ non receiving bribe | |
| Offering a gift | Non tendency to offer a gift/ tendency to offer a gift for appreciate/ tendency to offer a gift when important situation, illness or for discount |