Physician-Patient Relationship: A Case Study among Tehran University of Medical Sciences Hospitals

Introduction:As a multi-faceted system, the physician-patient relationship is more complicated than a mutual relationship at the turn of the third millennium. This process positively affects the quality of healthcare services provided. This research intends to determine the relationship status of the physicians and the patients in hospitals affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2015-2016. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical, cross-sectional study conducted on 185 patients who had been selected purposively, being hospitalized in 2 public and 2 private hospitals affiliated with TUMS. Patient-Doctor Relationship Questionnaire was employed as the research instrument. In addition to face and content validity, the reliability of the instrument was confirmed via administration of Alpha Cronbach, Test-Retest and Interclass Correlation Coefficient. For data analysis, SPSS software was used, for absolute and relative frequency the descriptive results were employed while Kolmogrov-Smirnov, Pearson, and Anova test were administered for analytical results. Results: Physician-patient relationships were revealed to be relatively desirable and desirable in studied hospitals, although this showed to be better in private hospitals compared to public hospitals. Also, there was observed a significant relation between physician-patient relationship status with patient’s age, educational background, physician’s gender, and educational level. Conclusion: Physician-patient relationship improvement in public hospitals could contribute to the success and sustainability of Health Care Overhaul Plan in Iran. Therefore, providing communication skills training, observation of patients’ rights and medical ethics by the physicians, especially by younger and less experienced physicians as well as medical assistants and medical students is recommended