Healthcare 2 - The Patient-Doctor Relationship
If experience qualifies as expertise, then, on the subject of the physician-patient relationship, I am an expert. During my career as an emergency physician, I saw well over 100,000 new patients. As a patient I survived two cancers, multiple blood clots in my lungs, and a bunch of other non-lethal problems. In addition, I have read a number of books about the physician patient relationship. So, now that you know my credentials, here is what I have learned... All patients want to be treated with respect. They want the doctor to listen carefully, ask questions and respond in a non-demeaning manner. This needs to be done in person, with eye to eye contact. The information acquired needs to be in the doctor's head and not just in his computer. Information in the computer is for billing, to refer back to, or to send to another physician. A good doctor builds a model of the patient in his head consisting of age, sex, prior medical history, family history, psychosocial status, current s...