[Four minutes for the patient and one minute for the families. Physician-patient-family communication in medical departments].

Facing the changes in working situation of hospital doctors, the question is raised as show how much time is spent on communication with patients and their families. The daily working time, including the time spent on communication with patients and their families, of 24 ward doctors (junior and senior house officers) from 5 medical departments at general hospitals, were assessed by means of questionnaires and time measurements. An average daily working time of 8.6 hours, yielding an average of 4 minutes for communication with each patient and 1 minute with his family.