> For example, surgeons are more likely to recommend surgery than non-surgeons. Radiation-oncologists recommend radiation more than other physicians. This is known as specialty bias. Perhaps in an attempt to be transparent, some doctors spontaneously disclose their specialty bias. That is, surgeons may inform their patients that as surgeons, they are biased toward recommending surgery.
> My latest research, published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals that patients with localized prostate cancer (a condition that has multiple effective treatment options) who heard their surgeon disclose his or her specialty bias were nearly three times more likely to have surgery than those patients who did not hear their surgeon reveal such a bias. Rather than discounting the surgeon’s recommendation, patients reported increased trust in physicians who disclosed their specialty bias.
Every time I think I've figured out the depth of human irrationality, it turns out there's more.
It's actually a pretty good selling tactic: tell them why you think they need surgery but add "I might not be the best person to tell you this because as a surgeon, I look at all problems through surgery"; this makes you come off as honest, putting the patient before your benefit, and because patients don't expect such disclosure, they end up trusting you a lot more.
Dunno, this seems perfectly sensible to me. If a patient doesn't have much other information or expertise to go on, the decision they're making is as much "do I trust this doctor?" as it is "should I have surgery?". And setting aside the latter question, I don't think it's irrational for hearing a disclosure to influence the former.
Also, a doctor aware of biases may be more competent than one that's not. Conspicuously absent from the first post is any comment on the relative value of the doctors.
> My latest research, published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals that patients with localized prostate cancer (a condition that has multiple effective treatment options) who heard their surgeon disclose his or her specialty bias were nearly three times more likely to have surgery than those patients who did not hear their surgeon reveal such a bias. Rather than discounting the surgeon’s recommendation, patients reported increased trust in physicians who disclosed their specialty bias.
Every time I think I've figured out the depth of human irrationality, it turns out there's more.