Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Do Patients Trust Doctors Too Much?

Doctor and Patient: Do patients trust doctors too much?

By PAULINE W. CHEN, M.D., Published: December 18, 2008, NYT
When a doctor friend of recently heard a radio ad for a Web site where patients could rate their doctors, he almost drove off the road. “I can’t believe they’ve added doctors to the list,” he said of the site, Angie’s List, perhaps best known for its user-generated report cards on local contractors. “Why do patients want to assess my relationship with them in the same way they evaluate a roofing job?” he asked, shaking his head over what he interpreted to be more evidence of the disintegrating doctor-patient relationship...

M: Should patients spend more time researching their doctors?

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Arrogant, Abusive and Disruptive -- and a Doctor

This is the title of a New York Times article published today. "Experts say the leading offenders are specialists in high-pressure fields like neurosurgery, orthopedics and cardiology." Does this sound familiar to you? It certainly brings back lots of memories, problems and many solutions. After being discharged as a patient I wanted to help my doctor to avoid similar incidents with his future patients. I offered unconditional help by revisiting my perspective in hope of finding reflection and a plan. He politely declined. I insisted on the condition that he should initiate contact with me if he wanted help. Two years later I have not heard from him. Am I a fool? Maybe. The door is still open.

Books on Doctors as Patients and a few on the Doctor-Patient Relationship