Pre-consultation information about one’s physician can affect trust and treatment outcome expectations

Objective: Information about physicians’ skills is increasingly available on the internet and consulted by patients. The impact of such information on patient expectations is largely unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether pre-consultation information about the competence and empathic skills of a physician may impact pre-consultation trust and treatment outcome expectations in mild and severe medical conditions. Methods: In this experimental web-based study, participants (n=237) read vignettes describing competence and empathic skills (low versus high) of a fictive physician who would surgically remove a mole or melanoma (low versus high severity). Participants next rated trust in the physician and treatment outcome expectations. Results: High physician’s competence and empathy raised pre-consultation trust in the physician, regardless of condition severity. Both high competence and empathy also increased expected surgery success, while only high competence reduced expected side effects. Conclusion: Pre-consultation information highlighting a physician’s competence and/or empathy may lead to higher trust in that physician, higher expected surgery success, and lower expected side effects. Practice Implications: Physicians and hospital staff should be aware of the effects of online information available and might, for example, provide profiles on hospital websites emphasizing competence and empathy of healthcare providers.