Abstract
Purpose. To ascertain whether the order in which patients are discussed in a team meeting determines the time spent on discussion.
Design. Prospective study over 18 consecutive multidisciplinary team meetings.
Setting/subjects. Multidisciplinary team meetings on a Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit, Edinburgh.
Main Outcome Measure. Time spent discussing each case.
Results. Patients discussed early on received 3 – 4 minutes more discussion time than those later on. This was highly significant on a one-way analysis of variance (P < 0.001).
Conclusions. Preferential treatment of patients who come at the start of the team meeting is a real phenomenon. Such alphabetical prejudice, where it exists, should be addressed.
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