Why empathy shouldn’t be left behind in healthcare

The ability to identify and understand the emotions of others is a powerful communication tool. Effective communication is essential to providing high-quality healthcare, yet some physicians struggle to maintain the same level of empathy they started their careers with. 

In fact, multiple studies have found that even medical students lose the ability to empathise throughout medical school.¹ ² There are many understandable explanations for this, including:

• Reduced time for consultations
• Additional stress
• The increasing presence of medical technology

But empathy has a vital impact on patients’ lives and should not be left behind…

Empathy is essential to show patients that they are both heard and understood. It strengthens the doctor-patient relationship and encourages more open and honest communication. So, why is building this type of relationship so important?

Patient Satisfaction

Some patients value empathic concern as much as, if not more than, technical competence when choosing a doctor. Patients tend to trust their doctor more if they perceive them as truly understanding their situation and concerns. Feeling understood is important to patient satisfaction so doctors should practice empathy to ensure patients are happy with the quality of care.

Study Results

• A strong correlation (0.93) between the perception of physician empathy and patient satisfaction was found in a study of 535 outpatients.³
• 65% of patient satisfaction was attributed to physician empathy in a 2016 study of 112 hand surgery patients.⁴
• ‘Help in dealing with emotional problems related to your health status’ was ranked 1st by patients in terms of importance when deciding whether to recommend their GP, closely followed by ‘Interest in your personal situation’.⁵

Patient Outcomes

A potentially surprising, but incredibly significant, benefit of clinical empathy is improved patient outcomes. Empathy is a great tool to better understand patients which can help with diagnosis and treatment. Patients are also more likely to follow doctor advice if they have developed a trusting relationship through empathy and therefore experience improved outcomes.

Study Results

• Patient enablement was increased when the patient perceived their doctor as displaying high levels of empathy in a study conducted in a Scottish hospital.⁶
• 56% of diabetic patients who were treated by doctors with high empathy scores had good control of their haemoglobin A1c, compared to 40% of patients treated by doctors with low empathy scores.⁷

Doctor Mental Health

Doctors also experience benefits of being empathetic with patients. Those who are more aware and receptive of their patients’ emotional needs are less likely to experience burnout. Connecting with patients through empathy can also make practising medicine more meaningful and satisfying.

Study Results

• Roter et al. found that physicians with an engaged, psychosocially oriented communication style burn out less frequently than others.⁸
• Tei et al. concluded that burnout in medical professionals might be explained by reduced empathy-related brain activity.⁹
  

Empathy in healthcare should be more than just a ‘nice to have’. It is a big part of ensuring positive experiences for both patients and doctors and should not be forgotten.

References

1. Artiran Igde, F., & Sahin, M. (2017). Changes in empathy during Medical Education: An example from Turkey. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 33(5). doi: 10.12669/pjms.335.13074
   
2. Hojat, M., Shannon, S., DeSantis, J., Speicher, M., Bragan, L., & Calabrese, L. (2020). Does Empathy Decline in the Clinical Phase of Medical Education? A Nationwide, Multi-Institutional, Cross-Sectional Study of Students at DO-Granting Medical Schools. Academic Medicine, 95(6), 911-918. doi: 10.1097/acm.0000000000003175
   
3. Hojat, M., Louis, D., Maxwell, K., Markham, F., Wender, R., & Gonnella, J. (2011). A Brief Instrument to Measure Patients’ Overall Satisfaction with Primary Care Physicians. Family Medicine, 43(6), 412-417.
   
4. Parrish, R., Menendez, M., Mudgal, C., Jupiter, J., Chen, N., & Ring, D. (2016). Patient Satisfaction and its Relation to Perceived Visit Duration with a Hand Surgeon. The Journal of Hand Surgery, 41(2), 257-262.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.jhsa.2015.11.015
   
5. Vedsted, P., & Heje, H. (2008). Association between patients’ recommendation of their GP and their evaluation of the GP. Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care, 26(4), 228-234. doi: 10.1080/02813430802294886
   
6. Mercer, S. (2001). Empathy is important for enablement. BMJ, 322(7290), 865-865. doi: 10.1136/bmj.322.7290.865
   
7. Hojat, M., Louis, D., Markham, F., Wender, R., Rabinowitz, C., & Gonnella, J. (2011). Physiciansʼ Empathy and Clinical Outcomes for Diabetic Patients. Academic Medicine, 86(3), 359-364. doi: 10.1097/acm.0b013e3182086fe1
   
8. Roter, D. (1997). Communication Patterns of Primary Care Physicians. JAMA: The Journal of The American Medical Association, 277(4), 350. doi: 10.1001/jama.1997.03540280088045
   
9. Tei, S., Becker, C., Kawada, R., Fujino, J., Jankowski, K., & Sugihara, G. et al. (2014). Can we predict burnout severity from empathy-related brain activity? Translational Psychiatry, 4(6), e393-e393. doi: 10.1038/tp.2014.34