Patient responses to physician disclosures of industry conflicts of interest: A randomized field experiment

Publication date: Available online 26 March 2019Source: Organizational Behavior and Human Decision ProcessesAuthor(s): Susannah L. Rose, Sunita Sah, Raed Dweik, Cory Schmidt, MaryBeth Mercer, Ariane Mitchum, Michael Kattan, Matthew Karafa, Christopher RobertsonAbstractMost patients in the United States depend on physicians who have financial relationships with the healthcare industry. These physician-industry relationships represent a conflict of interest: a potential clash between the physicians’ professional responsibilities and their self-interest. We conducted a randomized field experiment to assess the impact of written disclosures of physicians’ conflict of interest on patients’ appointment attendance, knowledge of these conflicts of interest, and their trust in their physician and hospital. Patients (N = 1903) attending outpatient clinics at a large U.S. academic hospital from 2015 to 2016 who had appointments with physicians earning more than $20,000 from industry in the last year were randomized to receive (or not receive) disclosures of their physicians’ financial conflicts of interest (with or without explanation of the risks and/or benefits of such conflicts) in their appointment-reminder letters. There were no differences across condition in missed or cancelled appointments. For patients who attended eligible appointments with their physician and completed the post-appointment survey (N = 867/1276; 68% response rate), the disclosure intervention r...

Source: Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes - March 27, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research