Closing the gap: the patient-physician disconnect.

This article will present the results of over 150 focus groups conducted to identify the underlying drivers of customer satisfaction in a variety of health care settings. These focus groups demonstrate that the vast majority of patients first seek to have their negative emotional state addressed and then to receive medical care. The hypothesis presented is that patients' satisfaction is based more on short-term consequences than long-term consequences (effects of treatment) because the short-term consequences involve reducing patients' negative emotions that they bring to the treatment situation. Supporting one of the key points from the literature, if initial satisfaction is low, patient compliance suffers, then treatment efficacy is reduced. Therefore, short-term satisfaction mediates long-term satisfaction.