Illustrative Quotes of Theme 3, Ultimately, the Decision Is Up to the Patient
| Respondent | Quote |
|---|---|
| Respondent 3 | I’ll go through the process and if they want to do [LCS], then I’ll certainly order it for them. I’m not going to withhold the test. |
| Respondent 4 | If the patient comes to me specifically requesting some type of testing and they meet the criteria, I do not feel like it is—not that I don’t feel like it’s my place, but if the patient is requesting something that they clearly meet criteria for, regardless of how I feel the rest of their life is going to go, I don’t see it as my place to deny them that service. |
| Respondent 11 | I do believe that ultimately the patient has to make that final decision because—I mean, it is something they have to live with. I would do my best to counsel them based on, I guess, all my concerns and my thoughts about the risk, benefits, but in the end, if they really strongly go for [LCS], then I will go along with their decision. I do think that in the end, [LCS] is the patient’s decision because it is their body, their own body. No matter what happens it’s like, even as a doctor, you can’t fully understand what it’s like to be the patient. Like, you might think that’s something—like from my standpoint, I might think, “This is the wrong decision,” but, I mean, ultimately whatever happens to the patient they have to deal with it. So, in the end, if they feel really strongly, I would go on with what they want. Yes. I mean sometimes I counsel patients against [LCS], but ultimately, it’s their decision to make. I usually go along with whatever the patient says. If they’re like, “Hey, I still want to screen because I would want to do anything like to treat a cancer if possible,” then I still go ahead and I do screening, and I see what happens. |
| Respondent 15 | If the patient can make a compelling case for getting [LCS], even though I think it may not be in their—wouldn’t necessarily be my recommendation, I’ll pursue it. I’ll let them pursue it. So, if people are … declare themselves as somebody who’d want to do [LCS], “I’d be willing to take that extra risk of more imaging and procedures for the chance of living longer. I’m willing to take that risk,” then we would do [LCS]. |
LCS = lung cancer screening.