Part II.
Ok. Let’s review what we talked about last time. How do we fix healthcare?
- We make sure the human-human connection stays — or better yet, we innovate to enhance this connection
- Physicians (and the healthcare field) need to stop patronizing patients: we are partners to patients and their loved ones
- Patients are not sheep and have more rights than they realize; they also own their own medical records
- Medical records exist as a bridge to strengthen and augment the relationship between patients and their partner healthcare providers, full stop.
We also talked about a few ingredients of trust, how to build a good relationship, and the importance of radical transparency, which aligns with physicians being able to admit we don’t know everything. We talked about assumption of positive intent — I advocate that we put the trust back in doctors and healthcare providers. I advocate that we begin to believe again that doctors and providers want to HELP patients; to do what’s best for them. Physicians also MUST start listening — how do we expect that our patients believe that we have our patients’ best interest at heart if we don’t even listen to what they are literally telling us what their concerns are?
These joint values make up the bottom line: we need to put our money where our values are. And it makes good economic and business sense. We spend upwards of $3 trillion dollars a year on healthcare. And studies bore out, over and over, good physician-patient relationships reduce morbidity and malpractice suits, positive intent reduces redundant visits, good listening skills portend to good patient outcomes. A collaborative model leads to systemic savings. It’s just good business.
At the end of the day — I’m asking that we become the compassionate, loving people I know are innate within all of us. I’m advocating for compassion to be our main trading value, which is equal to how we spend and make money. We need to STOP rewarding actions that end up hurting our patients, and START putting money into what we believe in: the good in people. This is healthcare — where we come across suffering humans, at their most vulnerable, lowest points in life.
