Physician Consultation Time and Perceived Quality of Outpatient Care for New Cancer Patients in Korea: An Experimental Vignette Survey of the General Public and Physicians.

Authors

Ji Sun Park, Moo Hyuk Lee, Sun Young Kim, Young Kyung Do

Published in

Journal of Korean medical science. Volume 41. Issue 27. Pages e204. Jul 13, 2026. Epub Jul 13, 2026.

Abstract

In the Republic of Korea, the limited outpatient consultation time for serious illnesses has been widely cited as a major concern for quality of care, often referred to as the "3-minute consultation." Short consultations hinder essential clinical functions, weaken physician-patient communication, and may lead to inefficient healthcare utilization. However, little research has been conducted on whether consultation time affects the perceived quality of outpatient care, particularly from both the patient's and the physician's perspectives.
An experimental vignette-based survey was conducted with 2,023 individuals from the general public and 324 junior physicians between August 5 and 26, 2024. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four consultation scenarios (3, 5, 10, or 15 minutes), each depicting an initial outpatient visit for a cancer patient at a tertiary hospital. Perceived quality of care was assessed using a 13-item questionnaire that covered key aspects of the patient experience, likely consequences of the consultation, and overall perceptions. Responses were measured on a 5-point Likert scale (1 for strongly disagree to 5 for strongly agree), except for the final item on overall rating. For each item, trend analysis was conducted to test whether a greater amount of consultation time is associated with higher perceived quality of care. Differences between the general public and physician samples were also examined.
Longer consultation times were associated with higher perceived quality of care across almost all items and groups (P for trend < 0.001). Scores for respect and courtesy increased from 1.93 (general public) and 2.06 (physicians) at 3 minutes to 4.16 and 4.59 at 15 minutes, respectively, with similar trends for attentiveness, information provision, explanation clarity, and patient participation. Trust in the physician and anxiety reduction also improved with longer consultations, while likelihoods of second-opinion visits and unnecessary testing decreased, though to a lesser extent. Physicians tended to rate the quality of care more favorably than the general public.
Longer consultation times are likely to improve the quality of care in tertiary oncology outpatient settings, from both the patient and physician perspectives.

PMID:
42444382
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 14 Jul 2026.

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