What the Patient Thinks

The big (6,500 members) Los Angeles County Medical Association hired a survey firm recently to find out what people think about doctors. Detailed interviews with 309 people (plus a chosen "influence group" of 51 community leaders) produced some revealing results, released last week.

The overwhelming majority agreed that doctors give patients as much time and information as needed. Some three-quarters felt that doctors work harder and enjoy less leisure than their patients; 86% thought that doctors do their share or more in the community; 85.5% felt that doctors show kindly, sympathetic interest in their patients.

However, 54.3% had changed doctors.

Chief complaints: their previous physicians were not thorough, not specialists, or too expensive. On the average, they expected doctors to be 22 minutes late for appointments. Almost one in five felt that doctors shirked night and Sunday calls.

Most complaints were about money and medical ethics: doctors were suspected of performing unnecessary surgery (listed by 52.4%), taking rebates from drugstores for prescriptions (33.9%). accepting kickbacks from specialists consulted (27.1%). Overall, 60% rated doctors' fees as reasonable, but not hospital bills or high surgical fees. "It is a rare case," the survey summary noted, "when we find a person who approves of either surgeons' or hospitals' charges."

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