Physician and Patient Perceptions of Patient-Accessible Consultation Letters

Summary

The purpose of this study is to understand how both physicians and patients feel about having doctors' letters available directly to their patients. We are keen to find patients who would be willing to review some sample doctor letters that will be emailed to them to give feedback to the research team about how useful the letters are to them, and whether any of the words used in the letters cause confusion, or could cause upset to the reader.

We are also seeking physicians who are members of the Department of Medicine or the Department of Clinical Neurosciences to participate in a survey about their perceptions about patient-accessible letters.

Physicians who agree to participate will also be invited to participate in an optional 30 minute phone interview to explore their ideas in greater detail. Patients who agree to participate will be asked to review the sample doctor letters with a member of the research team via telephone and then participate in a maximum 20 minute phone interview to explore their ideas in greater detail.