Physicians' Response to Patients' Quality-of-Life Goals.

Purpose: Patients are able to participate in quality-of-life (QOL) discussions, but clinicians struggle to incorporate this information into encounters and shared decision making. We designed a study to determine if a clinician-initiated prompt could make patient visits more goal directed.

Methods: Patients were given a previsit questionnaire that included QOL questions.

Encouraging Patient-Centered Care by Including Quality-of-Life Questions on Pre-Encounter Forms.

Purpose: Patient participation in clinical decision making improves outcomes, including quality of life (QOL), but the typical problem-oriented approach may impede consideration of functional goals. We wondered if patients could encourage primary care physicians to pay attention to their QOL goals by writing them on pre-encounter forms.

Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial comparing the impact of 2 different pre-visit questionnaires on the content of patient-physician encounters in a family medicine practice at an academic medical center.