Physician and patient perception: Countering falsehoods, communicating toward care, part 1

When physicians interact with patients, they have a chance to counter medical misinformation while improving patient care. Jessecae K. Marsh, PhD, offers her opinion about the best ways for doctors to elicit patient beliefs, then build trust by reacting with compassion and empathy. Marsh is co-author of the study, “Perceived Penalties for Sharing Patient Believes with Health Care Providers,” about patient and physician perceptions of patients who share correct or inaccurate information. Additional authors are Onur Asan, PhD, and Samantha Kleinberg, PhD, both of the Stevens Institute of Technology.