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The following is a summary of “Empathy Unmasked: Patient Perception of Physician Empathy in an Oncologic Emergency Setting. A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Personal Protective Equipment Wear versus Unmasked Video Communication,” published in the January 2025 issue of Emergency Medicine by Burk et al. 

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the rapid adoption of telemedicine across healthcare, including oncology, though its effectiveness in emergency settings for patients with cancer remained uncertain.  

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to examine the patient perceptions of physician empathy in an emergency oncology setting, comparing video interactions to in-person interactions with personal protective equipment (PPE).  

They randomized patients 1:1 to either in-person interactions with physicians wearing PPE or video interactions (virtual). Physicians’ relational empathy was investigated using the Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) Measure and the Perception of Physician Compassion measure to compare perceptions between the 2 groups.  

The results showed patients (n = 106) in both PPE and virtual arms responded favorably to all questions. Mean overall CARE scores were 45.02 for PPE and 44.43 for virtual (difference, 0.58 [95% CI: -2.10, 3.30]). Patients with virtual arm perceived physicians as warmer (difference, -0.42 [95% CI: -0.87, 0.04]) but less pleasant (difference, 0.33 [95% CI: -0.40, 1.10]) than those in the PPE arm.  

Investigators concluded that the patients with cancer perceived empathy and compassion equally in virtual and in-person interactions, supporting the implementation of virtual services in oncology emergency care to ensure safe physician-patient relationships. 

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0736467924002518