Physician-patient relationship is eroding.
In the New York Times’s (7/29, F6) Well column, Tara Parker-Pope writes that a “growing chorus of discontent suggests that the once-revered doctor-patient relationship is on the rocks.” This “relationship is the cornerstone of the medical system — nobody can be helped if doctors and patients aren’t getting along. But, increasingly, research and anecdotal reports suggest that many patients don’t trust doctors.” According to data from a Johns Hopkins study published this year in the journal Medicine, approximately “one in four patients feel that their physicians sometimes expose them to unnecessary risk.” Sandeep Jauhar, M.D., director of the heart failure program at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, noted that one reason for patients’ frustration is the fact that everything is so rushed these days, and “[n]obody is talking to the patients.” Comment: This should not surprise anyone with the current emphasis on carrying out procedures and avoiding “wasting“ time talking to patients. This is specialism at its worst and is partly the result of rushed legislation that will not wait to evaluate any activity, and partly the result of inappropriate evaluation by the LCME which evaluates medical school curricula, and the ACGME which evaluates graduate programs. Neither has any focus on public awareness, only on technical proficiency..
