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Physician Assessment Of Patient Motivation: Influence On Disposition For Follow-Up Care, R Mcartor, Donald Iverson, D Benken, Valerie Gilchrist, L Dennis, R Broome

Don C. Iverson

This study of 3,318 outpatient visits evaluated the influence of the physician-assessed level of patient motivation on the level of physician involvement in follow-up care. Data collected included patient demographics, health risk factors, physician-assessed level of patient motivation, and the disposition for follow-up care (return office visit or self-care). Physicians more frequently scheduled patients for a return office visit, regardless of assessed level of patient motivation, when they presented with a traditional biomedical problem. Patients with health promotion-disease prevention problems were more frequently relegated to self-care; patients physicians judged to be poorly motivated were four times as likely to be …