Are You Losing Patients Because of the Way You Look?


This topic should be of interest to every physician who still sees patients..

There is a link at the end of this blog to an article which discusses this topic in some detail.

It confirms that your attire does impact your patient's trust in you and their view of your competence.

Here is a brief review of my own experience. 

When I started my Orthopaedic practice in 1994, I determined to always wear a suit when I saw patients in the office.

My subspecialty was Total Joint Replacements.

At that time the vast majority of patients needing total joint replacements were over 65 years old.

It was my view that those older patients expected their doctor to look professional.

To me, looking professional to that demographic meant wearing a suit and not scrubs in clinic.

Through the years, I received numerous compliments on the way I dressed.

These compliments were not just from the patients themselves, but also from adult children who accompanied their elderly parents to their appointments.  

They appreciated their doctor looking professional.

They rightly assumed that my professional appearance translated to the same professional approach to their surgery. 

But for me, that all changed during the Covid pandemic.

I don't know about you, but I felt silly wearing a mask with a suit.

To me, that was not a professional look.

Masks were to be worn with scrubs. That was my view.

Yes, the pandemic changed things for all, but I didn't appreciate the change that was forced on me, and neither did the large majority of my patients.

So, I began wearing scrubs with my white coat in clinic after 26 years of virtually never doing so.

Again, with the mask requirement, it just seemed more appropriate to wear scrubs.

I did receive some comments from some long-time patients asking what happened to my suits, but they completely understood my rationale.

So, I wore scrubs with my white coat in clinic from the time of the pandemic in 2020 until I retired in late 2022.  

That meant I wore scrubs long after the mask mandate was lifted.

I don't know how my switch to wearing scrubs affected my patients' perception of me.

There certainly didn't seem to be any adverse effect. 

I still had full clinics. 

My surgery schedule remained full. 

But, the article below would imply I should have resumed wearing my suits.

Had I known this information then, I would likely have dressed differently.

Whatever your perception of your own attire and what it conveys may be, what really matters is your patients' perception.

Surely you don't want to take the chance of losing patients because of your appearance.

Nor should you want patients who remain with you but become less trusting of you and more skeptical of you.

Obviously, you can choose your own attire, but at least consider the impact your appearance has on your patients and their view of you as demonstrated in the following article.

Here is the link:

https://www.beckersphysicianleadership.com/physician-workforce/physicians-attire-impacts-patients-perceptions-8-things-to-know/?origin=ASCE&utm_source=ASCE&utm_medium=email&utm_content=newsletter&oly_enc_id=5045J4815012B0J


​Ben Holt, M.D.
CEO, RTR Practice Advisors