This is PROFOUNDLY (and depressingly) relevant to todays practice of medicine. I am so frequently disheartened by the attempts to model healthcare after business. I am not a salesman, and in my profession the customer is NOT always right. I dont subscribe to the purely paternalistic model of medicine, and I think cooperative decision making between well-informed patients and their providers is key to optimizing health and wellness. Patients have insight into themselves that I cant pretend to have. That being said, I have spent massive amounts of time, tears and money; lost sleep, pounds and relationships, all in the personal and educational journey to becoming a physician. Along this journey I have gained expertise in the art and practice of medicine that is not available to the average layman on webmd or Dr. Ozs website. My role is that of a sensitive caregiver in the times of acute illness, a professional adviser in the quest for maintained/ improved health in times of stability, and as an advocate and champion for my patients and for the right to equal access to excellent healthcare for all. My role is NOT that of a hotel concierge, an empty prescription pad, or an enabler of bad practices/ habits. Furthermore, hospitals are not hotels. Nurses and med techs are not private, personal attendants and bellboys. When we as healthcare professionals are judged/ graded based on some elusive concept of patient satisfaction, we can become torn between providing quality, appropriate medical care and meeting unrealistic expectations that have very little to do with actually providing healthcare. Should we be expected to be sensitive, respectful, and collaborative with our patients when developing a healthcare plan? Absolutely. Should I cater to every desire a patient may have, and submit to every request, regardless of my medical opionion? Absolutely not. Does this sound paternalistic or condescending? Maybe. But today I spent nearly an hour dealing with a patient who was doing nothing but complaining loudly about his nurses, who were providing excellent care, because they would not go off floor to get him a newspaper, stay in his room to be at his beck and call, and respond to his multiple requests immediately as they were trying to see to other patients medical needs. He will be discharged with newly controlled diabetes, definitive treatment of his gangrenous toe and vascular claudication, but based on his behaviors so far, will more than likely focus on the fact that he couldnt read his Sunday funnies than the excellent care his medical team, from med tech to surgeon, have worked hard to provide him. What do you think his patient satisfaction score is going to be?
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 05:14:46 +0000
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