Doctor and Patient, Now at Odds

[groovedaddy]

A growing chorus of discontent suggests that the once-revered doctor-patient relationship is on the rocks.

The 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.

About one in four patients feel that their physicians sometimes expose them to unnecessary risk, according to data from a Johns Hopkins study published this year in the journal Medicine. And two recent studies show that whether patients trust a doctor strongly influences whether they take their medication.

The distrust and animosity between doctors and patients has shown up in a variety of places. In bookstores, there is now a genre of “what your doctor won’t tell you” books promising previously withheld information on everything from weight loss to heart disease.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/health/29well.html?th&emc=th

[Warpy]

1. The system is quite simply hostile to patients

who represent dollars getting away from the insurance industry when they need care. Physicians have been put under pressure both to practice defensive medicine that requires a plethora of tests unrelated to the patient complaint and to contain costs by withholding expensive treatment.

Doctors have been caught in the middle both by the legal system and by the insurance industry. It's a terribly uncomfortable place for a lot of them. From the patient's viewpoint, he sees a lot of bloodletting and paperwork but might not see his original complaint being fully addressed. He starts to become skeptical, especially when his costs keep going up and the care keeps getting worse. The doc gets all the blame.

Enter the conspiracy scammers who like to sell alarmist books. In a medical system as broken as ours is, scamming is a growth industry.

Until we manage to get a system that focuses on delivery of care instead of constant cost cutting, this is how it's going to be. The tragedy is that a lot of talented physicians are getting out of patient care because of it.

[groovedaddy]

2. What happens when you don't have health care insurance and call

a health care provider? The treat you like a pariah. I know from personal experience.

[Warpy]

3. I pay up front in full. I also demand the uninsured patient

discount up front. Yes, I'm still getting screwed when I look at what an insurance company pays for the same service, but it helps to know such things exist. It helps them to be paid up front--no paperwork. Doctors have been the very best about this. They really do understand that our system has broken down.

I've been uninsurable for 20 years because I'm very ill. I'm sure my chart is flagged all over town because I no longer have to fight anybody for decent treatment.