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Conceptualizing Patient-Provider Connectedness in the Inpatient Clinical Setting

DescriptionBurnout is a serious issue among healthcare workers and leads to clinician turnover and worsening care for patients. General internists face burnout from heavy patient loads, dynamic environments, and limited autonomy. Despite broad awareness of this problem, there is little consensus on effective solutions; however strengthening patient-provider connectedness is emerging as a critical framework for mitigating burnout and understanding clinical interactions. Defined as the extent to which an individual perceives a “significant, shared, and meaningful personal relationship with another person” connectedness emphasizes the patient’s perspective rather than centering solely on the provider’s role. The lack of a validated measure of connectedness in healthcare leads to fragmented understandings. As part of a larger study aimed at enhancing the wellness of hospitalized patients and their providers, we use a psychometric approach to identify the factors of patient-provider connectedness. This is an initial analysis of a subset of our dataset (n=40) to identify preliminary descriptors that will inform future studies of validation and statistical analysis, guiding the development of a generalizable measurement scale. Clarifying this concept in a general, inpatient setting can help address clinician burnout, while fostering safer and more meaningful work environments for both patients and providers.

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