ArticleHealth expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy2022
Views of healthcare consumer representatives on defensive practice: 'We are your biggest advocate and supporter… not the enemy'.
Article in Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- 'Communication Is Crucial': A Qualitative Study of Patient Expectations of Diagnostic Tests in Emergency Medicine Practice.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026Article
- Understanding what shapes patient and family experience of the open disclosure process in the Irish healthcare context: a qualitative study.BMC medical ethics · 2026Article
- Subtle Differences in Physician Communication and Substantial Impacts on Patient Decision-Making About Low-Value Care: An Experimental Vignette Study.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2025Article
- Perceptions and Experiences of Consumer Representatives on Patient Safety Investigation Teams: A Qualitative Analysis.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Article
- Policy Options for Reducing Defensive Medicine Behaviors: A Multi-Method Study.Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran · 2024Article
- A confirmatory factor analysis of the Iranian version of the interpersonal communication skills scale among healthcare professionals.BMC medical education · 2023Article
- Curricular Interventions in Medical Schools: Maximizing Community Engagement Through Communities of Practice.Annals of family medicine · 2023Article
- A qualitative interview study of Australian physicians on defensive practice and low value care: "it's easier to talk about our fear of lawyers than to talk about our fear of looking bad in front of each other".BMC medical ethics · 2022Article
- Views of healthcare consumer representatives on defensive practice: 'We are your biggest advocate and supporter… not the enemy'.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe patient-clinician interaction is a site at which defensive practice could occur, when clinicians provide tests, procedures and treatments mainly to reduce perceived legal risks, rather than to advance patient care. Defensive practice is a driver of low-value care and exposes patients to the risks of unnecessary interventions. To date, patient perspectives on defensive practice and its impacts on them are largely missing from the literature. This exploratory study conducted in Australia aimed to examine the views and experiences of healthcare consumer representatives in this under-examined area.
methodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with healthcare consumer representatives involved in healthcare consumer advocacy organisations in Australia. Data were transcribed and analysed thematically.
resultsNine healthcare consumer representatives participated. Most had over 20 years of involvement and advocacy in healthcare, including personal experiences as a patient or carer and/or formal service roles on committees or complaint bodies for healthcare organisations. Participants uniformly viewed defensive practice as having a negative impact on the clinician-patient relationship. Themes identified the importance of fostering patient-clinician partnership, effective communication and informed decision-making. The themes support a shift from the concept of defensive practice to preventive practice in partnership, which focuses on the shared interests of patients and clinicians in achieving safe and high-value care.
conclusionThis Australian study offers healthcare consumers' perspectives on the impacts of defensive practice on patients. The findings highlight the features of clinician-patient partnership that will help to improve communication and decision-making, and prevent the defensive provision of low-value care. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Healthcare consumer representatives were involved as participants in this study.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.