Bringing Back the Disappearing Doctor: Giving Control Back to the Patients by: Crystal Barber MBA & Heather Morse MS, ATC, OTC
There’s little doubt that the front line of medicine — the traditional family or primary care doctor and the patient relationship— has been under siege for years. Choice is what we all want, as most would say. There is a growing cognizance that patients can and should play an important role in deciding their own care, in defining optimal care, and in improving healthcare delivery. There is much growing evidence that engaging patients in treatment decisions and supporting their efforts at self-care and preventative care, can lead to more beneficial long-term outcomes. Patients who are active participants in a shared decision-making process have a better knowledge of treatment options and more realistic perceptions of treatment effects.
The resulting treatment choices are more likely to concur with their preferences, lifestyles, and attitudes to risk. Actively engaged patients are also more likely to adhere to treatment recommendations, and less likely to select expensive procedures.
The Modern Primary Care Model One would assume all of the above benefits would shape a modern, successful model of healthcare. Yet this is not the model patients are exposed to in this modern era. Higher healthcare costs, skyrocketing drug prices, and lower reimbursements for physicians have created an environment that does not support a patient-centered model of care. Doctors are working under more pressure than ever before. Recent changes in health care – such as ramped-up productivity requirements, increased documentation, and new quality metrics have left physicians scrambling to see more patients on a daily basis to cover rising supply costs, higher malpractice rates, and increased staff costs. Even so, patients deserve their undivided attention. These conditions have many patients feeling dissatisfied by the quality of the office visits with their physicians due to time restraints and longer wait times. While the ballpark office visit time is about 11-15 minutes, patients are not getting as much time as they need to address healthcare concerns. By all accounts, shorter visit times take a toll on the doctor-patient relationship and may represent a missed opportunity for getting patients more actively involved in their own health. There is less of a dialogue between patient and doctor, studies show, increasing the odds patients will leave with a prescription for medication, rather than a behavioral or lifestyle change — like trying to lose a few pounds, going to the gym, or electing alternative for pharmaceutical treatments.
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