Ronald M Epstein
Biographic Data
| ID | 1734768 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ronald M Epstein |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ronald M |
| FAMILY NAME | Epstein |
| SIGNATURE | EPSTEIN R M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Rochester |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3564-9163 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 110 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 24 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Partnerships Across Health Care Teams and With Deaf Community Members
To ensure materials are well-received by diverse audiences who access language visually, development and production requires interdisciplinary collaboration across invested health care teams and extensive project engagement, input, and leadership from community members
The TRIBE model
Responsive social support serves important functions in clinical communication
Can consumers learn to ask three questions to improve shared decision making? A feasibility study of the ASK (AskShareKnow) Patient–Clinician Communication Model ® intervention in a primary health‐car…
OBJECTIVE: To test the feasibility and assess the uptake and acceptability of implementing a consumer questions programme, AskShareKnow, to encourage consumers to use the questions '1. What are my options; 2. What are the possible benefits and harms of those options; 3. How likely are each of those benefits and harms to happen to me?' These three questions have previously shown important effects in improving the quality of information provided du…
In search of compassion
BACKGROUND: Compassion has been extolled as a virtue in the physician-patient relationship as a response to patient suffering. However, there are few studies that systematically document the behavioural features of physician compassion and the ways in which physicians communicate compassion to patients. OBJECTIVE: To develop a taxonomy of compassionate behaviours and statements expressed by the physician that can be discerned by an outside observ…
Personality Change Pre- to Post- Loss in Spousal Caregivers of Patients With Terminal Lung Cancer
Personality is relatively stable in adulthood but could change in response to life transitions, such as caring for a spouse with a terminal illness. Using a case–control design, spousal caregivers ( n = 31) of patients with terminal lung cancer completed the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) twice, 1.5 years apart, before and after the patient’s death. A demographically matched sample of community controls ( n = 93) completed the NEO-FFI on a s…
Emotional intelligence
Only recently have researchers begun to examine individual differences in affective forecasting. The present investigation was designed to make a theoretical contribution to this emerging literature by examining the role of emotional intelligence in affective forecasting. Emotional intelligence was hypothesized to be associated with affective forecasting accuracy, memory for emotional reactions, and subsequent improvement on an affective forecast…
The Values and Value of Patient-Centered Care
Patient-centered care has now made it to center stage in discussions of quality. Enshrined by the Institute of Medicine’s “quality chasm” report as 1 of 6 key elements of high-quality care,[1][1] health care institutions, health planners, congressional representatives, and hospital public
Developing Physician Communication Skills For Patient-Centered Care
Growing enthusiasm about patient-centered medical homes, fueled by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's emphasis on improved primary care, has intensified interest in how to deliver patient-centered care. Essential to the delivery of such care are patient-centered communication skills. These skills have a positive impact on patient satisfaction, treatment adherence, and self-management. They can be effectively taught at all levels of …
Why The Nation Needs A Policy Push On Patient-Centered Health Care
The phrase "patient-centered care" is in vogue, but its meaning is poorly understood. This article describes patient-centered care, why it matters, and how policy makers can advance it in practice. Ultimately, patient-centered care is determined by the quality of interactions between patients and clinicians. The evidence shows that patient-centered care improves disease outcomes and quality of life, and that it is critical to addressing racial, e…
How does communication heal? Pathways linking clinician–patient communication to health outcomes
Assessment in Medical Education
This article in the Medical Education series provides a conceptual framework for and a brief update on commonly used and emerging methods of assessment, discusses the strengths and limitations of each method, and identifies several major challenges in assessing professional competence and performance.
Patient-centered communication in cancer care: Promoting healing and reducing suffering
Knowledge and Beliefs About Health Promotion and Preventive Health Care Among Somali Women in the United States
We explored conceptualizations of health promotion and experiences with preventive health services among African refugee women. We asked 34 resettled Somali refugee women about their beliefs and experiences regarding health promotion and common preventive health care services in the United States. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Key themes were the importance of good hygiene, an adequate sou…
Physicians’ Responses to Patients’ Medically Unexplained Symptoms
OBJECTIVE: To understand how physicians communicate may contribute to the mistrust and poor clinical outcomes observed in patients who present with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). METHODS: After providing informed consent, 100 primary care physicians in greater Rochester, New York, were visited by two unannounced covert standardized patients (actors, or SPs) portraying two chest pain roles: classic symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux diseas…
Connoisseurs of Care? Unannounced Standardized Patients’ Ratings of Physicians
BACKGROUND: Patient satisfaction surveys can be informative, but bias and poor response rates may limit their utility as stable measures of physician performance. Using unannounced standardized patients (SPs) may overcome some of these limitations because their experience and training make them able judges of physician behavior. OBJECTIVES: We sought to understand the reliability of unannounced SPs in rating primary care physicians when covertly …
Do Patient Requests for Antidepressants Enhance or Hinder Physicians’ Evaluation of Depression
OBJECTIVE: We sought to ascertain whether patients' requests for antidepressants affect visit duration or history taking by primary care physicians (PCPs) for patients with depressive symptoms and a coexisting musculoskeletal disorder and to determine whether more thorough history taking is associated with diagnostic accuracy or with provision of minimally acceptable initial care for major depression. DESIGN: This was a randomized trial using sta…
Studying physician effects on patient outcomes
Measuring patient-centered communication in Patient-Physician consultations
Patient Trust
BACKGROUND: Patients' trust in their health care providers may affect their satisfaction and health outcomes. Despite the potential importance of trust, there are few studies of its correlates using objective measures of physician behavior during encounters with patients. METHODS: We assessed physician behavior and length of visit using audio tapes of encounters of 2 unannounced standardized patients (SPs) with 100 community-based primary care ph…
Please Don't Say Anything
Case On Dr. Singh's recommendation, one of her patients, Mr. Henry Roland, consented to be tested for HIV and had a positive test result, which he feared but suspected. Mr. Roland has a longtime girlfriend, Lisa, whom he sometimes mentions to Dr. Singh. When talking to Mr. Roland about his positive test result, Dr. Singh brought up the topic of notifying Mr. Roland's past and present partners so they could be tested themselves. Mr. Roland refused…
Defining and Assessing Professional Competence
CONTEXT: Current assessment formats for physicians and trainees reliably test core knowledge and basic skills. However, they may underemphasize some important domains of professional medical practice, including interpersonal skills, lifelong learning, professionalism, and integration of core knowledge into clinical practice. OBJECTIVES: To propose a definition of professional competence, to review current means for assessing it, and to suggest ne…
Interviewing in Medical Settings
Mindful Practice
Mindful practitioners attend in a nonjudgmental way to their own physical and mental processes during ordinary, everyday tasks. This critical self-reflection enables physicians to listen attentively to patients' distress, recognize their own errors, refine their technical skills, make evidence-based decisions, and clarify their values so that they can act with compassion, technical competence, presence, and insight. Mindfulness informs all types …
Measuring patient-centered communication in Patient-Physician consultations
Why The Nation Needs A Policy Push On Patient-Centered Health Care
The phrase "patient-centered care" is in vogue, but its meaning is poorly understood. This article describes patient-centered care, why it matters, and how policy makers can advance it in practice. Ultimately, patient-centered care is determined by the quality of interactions between patients and clinicians. The evidence shows that patient-centered care improves disease outcomes and quality of life, and that it is critical to addressing racial, e…
Studying physician effects on patient outcomes
Mindful Practice
Mindful practitioners attend in a nonjudgmental way to their own physical and mental processes during ordinary, everyday tasks. This critical self-reflection enables physicians to listen attentively to patients' distress, recognize their own errors, refine their technical skills, make evidence-based decisions, and clarify their values so that they can act with compassion, technical competence, presence, and insight. Mindfulness informs all types …
Interviewing in Medical Settings
Defining and Assessing Professional Competence
CONTEXT: Current assessment formats for physicians and trainees reliably test core knowledge and basic skills. However, they may underemphasize some important domains of professional medical practice, including interpersonal skills, lifelong learning, professionalism, and integration of core knowledge into clinical practice. OBJECTIVES: To propose a definition of professional competence, to review current means for assessing it, and to suggest ne…
Please Don't Say Anything
Case On Dr. Singh's recommendation, one of her patients, Mr. Henry Roland, consented to be tested for HIV and had a positive test result, which he feared but suspected. Mr. Roland has a longtime girlfriend, Lisa, whom he sometimes mentions to Dr. Singh. When talking to Mr. Roland about his positive test result, Dr. Singh brought up the topic of notifying Mr. Roland's past and present partners so they could be tested themselves. Mr. Roland refused…
Patient Trust
BACKGROUND: Patients' trust in their health care providers may affect their satisfaction and health outcomes. Despite the potential importance of trust, there are few studies of its correlates using objective measures of physician behavior during encounters with patients. METHODS: We assessed physician behavior and length of visit using audio tapes of encounters of 2 unannounced standardized patients (SPs) with 100 community-based primary care ph…
Measuring patient-centered communication in Patient-Physician consultations
Physicians’ Responses to Patients’ Medically Unexplained Symptoms
OBJECTIVE: To understand how physicians communicate may contribute to the mistrust and poor clinical outcomes observed in patients who present with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). METHODS: After providing informed consent, 100 primary care physicians in greater Rochester, New York, were visited by two unannounced covert standardized patients (actors, or SPs) portraying two chest pain roles: classic symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux diseas…
Connoisseurs of Care? Unannounced Standardized Patients’ Ratings of Physicians
BACKGROUND: Patient satisfaction surveys can be informative, but bias and poor response rates may limit their utility as stable measures of physician performance. Using unannounced standardized patients (SPs) may overcome some of these limitations because their experience and training make them able judges of physician behavior. OBJECTIVES: We sought to understand the reliability of unannounced SPs in rating primary care physicians when covertly …
Do Patient Requests for Antidepressants Enhance or Hinder Physicians’ Evaluation of Depression
OBJECTIVE: We sought to ascertain whether patients' requests for antidepressants affect visit duration or history taking by primary care physicians (PCPs) for patients with depressive symptoms and a coexisting musculoskeletal disorder and to determine whether more thorough history taking is associated with diagnostic accuracy or with provision of minimally acceptable initial care for major depression. DESIGN: This was a randomized trial using sta…
Studying physician effects on patient outcomes
Assessment in Medical Education
This article in the Medical Education series provides a conceptual framework for and a brief update on commonly used and emerging methods of assessment, discusses the strengths and limitations of each method, and identifies several major challenges in assessing professional competence and performance.
Patient-centered communication in cancer care: Promoting healing and reducing suffering
Knowledge and Beliefs About Health Promotion and Preventive Health Care Among Somali Women in the United States
We explored conceptualizations of health promotion and experiences with preventive health services among African refugee women. We asked 34 resettled Somali refugee women about their beliefs and experiences regarding health promotion and common preventive health care services in the United States. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Key themes were the importance of good hygiene, an adequate sou…
How does communication heal? Pathways linking clinician–patient communication to health outcomes
Developing Physician Communication Skills For Patient-Centered Care
Growing enthusiasm about patient-centered medical homes, fueled by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's emphasis on improved primary care, has intensified interest in how to deliver patient-centered care. Essential to the delivery of such care are patient-centered communication skills. These skills have a positive impact on patient satisfaction, treatment adherence, and self-management. They can be effectively taught at all levels of …
Why The Nation Needs A Policy Push On Patient-Centered Health Care
The phrase "patient-centered care" is in vogue, but its meaning is poorly understood. This article describes patient-centered care, why it matters, and how policy makers can advance it in practice. Ultimately, patient-centered care is determined by the quality of interactions between patients and clinicians. The evidence shows that patient-centered care improves disease outcomes and quality of life, and that it is critical to addressing racial, e…
The Values and Value of Patient-Centered Care
Patient-centered care has now made it to center stage in discussions of quality. Enshrined by the Institute of Medicine’s “quality chasm” report as 1 of 6 key elements of high-quality care,[1][1] health care institutions, health planners, congressional representatives, and hospital public
Emotional intelligence
Only recently have researchers begun to examine individual differences in affective forecasting. The present investigation was designed to make a theoretical contribution to this emerging literature by examining the role of emotional intelligence in affective forecasting. Emotional intelligence was hypothesized to be associated with affective forecasting accuracy, memory for emotional reactions, and subsequent improvement on an affective forecast…
Personality Change Pre- to Post- Loss in Spousal Caregivers of Patients With Terminal Lung Cancer
Personality is relatively stable in adulthood but could change in response to life transitions, such as caring for a spouse with a terminal illness. Using a case–control design, spousal caregivers ( n = 31) of patients with terminal lung cancer completed the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) twice, 1.5 years apart, before and after the patient’s death. A demographically matched sample of community controls ( n = 93) completed the NEO-FFI on a s…
In search of compassion
BACKGROUND: Compassion has been extolled as a virtue in the physician-patient relationship as a response to patient suffering. However, there are few studies that systematically document the behavioural features of physician compassion and the ways in which physicians communicate compassion to patients. OBJECTIVE: To develop a taxonomy of compassionate behaviours and statements expressed by the physician that can be discerned by an outside observ…
Can consumers learn to ask three questions to improve shared decision making? A feasibility study of the ASK (AskShareKnow) Patient–Clinician Communication Model ® intervention in a primary health‐car…
OBJECTIVE: To test the feasibility and assess the uptake and acceptability of implementing a consumer questions programme, AskShareKnow, to encourage consumers to use the questions '1. What are my options; 2. What are the possible benefits and harms of those options; 3. How likely are each of those benefits and harms to happen to me?' These three questions have previously shown important effects in improving the quality of information provided du…
Responsive social support serves important functions in clinical communication
The TRIBE model
Partnerships Across Health Care Teams and With Deaf Community Members
To ensure materials are well-received by diverse audiences who access language visually, development and production requires interdisciplinary collaboration across invested health care teams and extensive project engagement, input, and leadership from community members
Psychology (20 works) · Medicine (19 works) · Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare (11 works) · Nursing (9 works) · Patient Satisfaction in Healthcare (9 works) · Family medicine (7 works) · Health care (6 works) · Medical education (6 works) · MEDLINE (5 works) · Social Psychology (5 works)