Patients Want to Shake Hands
Most patients want physicians to shake their hands when they first meet, but only about half want their first names used in greetings, according to a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The authors surveyed adults and also analyzed videotapes of new patient visits. They found physicians and patients shook hands in four out of five visits, but that physicians didn't mention names at all in about half the visits. “Given the diversity of opinion regarding the use of names, coupled with national patient safety recommendations concerning patient identification, we suggest that physicians initially use patients' first and last names and introduce themselves using their own first and last names,” the authors wrote.