Doctor on call: physician smartphone use during medical consultations

Background: Being inherently service oriented, healthcare organizations emphasize patient-centered care and service quality. However, unwarranted disruptions during patient-doctor interactions can negatively impact perceptions of service quality. Integrating digital technologies such as smartphones into patient-doctor interactions might affect perceived (as well as actual) service quality. Given the ubiquity of smartphones in daily life, it is vital to assess their impact on medical consultations.

Method: To address this lacuna, we examined patients' perceptions of their physicians' smartphone use during medical encounters. We investigated how these perceptions, either interruptive or constructive, affect the perceived service quality and patient satisfaction. Data from an online survey of 356 participants provided insights into patient comfort levels, perceived justifications, service quality perceptions, and overall satisfaction when physicians used smartphones during consultations in the past year.

Results: Patients view physicians' smartphone use during consultations as interruptive, which affects perceived service quality and satisfaction. They were more accepting when smartphone use was related to professional tasks or urgent personal matters rather than routine use. Notably, there was no correlation between patients' smartphone habits and their perceptions of disruptive smartphone use by their physicians.

Conclusion: This study expands our understanding of the implications of physician smartphone use in healthcare and highlights ways to boost patient satisfaction and perceived service quality. The findings suggest that healthcare organizations should develop policies and physician training to minimize disruptive smartphone use and encourage clear communication regarding essential work-related use during patient consultations.