Correlation between attending physician's empathy and readmission rate
in Internal Medicine
Abstract
IIntroduction Physician empathy has been correlated with several
outcomes in outpatient settings, demonstrating better prognosis in
patients followed by highly empathetic doctors. Aim To correlate empathy
of Internal Medicine ward physicians with readmission rates of patients
they took care of. Methods We extracted readmission data of all patients
discharged from Internal Medicine wards at our hospital between January
1st, 2011 and May 31st, 2017. Patients discharged to other institutions
(nursing homes, rehabilitation units, other hospitals) were excluded.
The 30-day readmission rate was recorded for each doctor. We measured
the empathy of physicians who discharged more than 100 patients during
that period, using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) and the Empathy
Components Questionnaire (ECQ). Correlation between empathy scores and
readmission rate was weighted for the number of patients followed by
each physician and adjusted for sex, age and relative cost weight of
patients, as well as the doctor’s age. The same correlation was
calculated in the subgroup of index patients discharged with Diagnosis
Related Group 127 (DRG 127, Heart Failure and Shock). Results A total of
4280 index discharge events were identified, 383 of which (8.9%) were
readmitted within 30 days. JSE scores were found out to be inversely
correlated with readmission rates (coefficient -0.027, R2 0.181,
p<0.001) whereas ECQ correlation was not significant after
adjustment. A significant inverse correlation was also observed
considering only the DRG 127 patients, with both Empathy scales (JSE and
ECQ, coefficient -0.032 and -0.098, R2 0.303 and 0.326, p=0.050 and
p<0.001, respectively). Conclusion Empathy of Internal
Medicine physicians correlates with readmission rates of the patients
they cared for, especially heart failure patients for whom this is a
relevant outcome.