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How physicians should greet patients on the first and subsequent encounters has received little attention. Using a telephone survey of 415 English-speaking adults in the 48 contiguous states, the authors of this study examined what patients themselves prefer. To determine what actually occurs in practice, they also watched preexisting videotapes of 123 first-time visits of patients to clinicians working in the Chicago, Illinois, and Burlington, Vermont, areas.
About 80% of the survey respondents wanted their doctors to shake their hands, about 50% wanted to be addressed by their first names, 20% by both first and last names, and 25% by their last names (e.g., Mr. Smith). About 60% preferred physicians to introduce themselves using both first…