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Harnessing the Power of the PhysicianPatient Relationship PAT I E N T S U P P O R T I S KEY - DOCTORS CAN'T DO IT ON THEIR OWN. Wri t t en by D r. Re b e k a h B erna rd, M D
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t is no great secret that physicians are increasingly disillusioned with the health care system, with nearly half of all physicians (The Physicians Foundation, 2018) actively planning to leave the clinical practice of medicine. The reason that doctors want out of medicine has absolutely nothing to do with patients. In fact, physicians rank patient care as the most meaningful part of their job, and consider patient relationships the greatest source of professional satisfaction (The Physicians Foundation, 2018). Likewise, patients value their relationship with physicians. 92% of American (The Physicians Foundation, 2018) patients report being happy with 1 6 | J A N UA RY/ F E B RUARY 2020
the care they receive from their primary care physicians, and 80% of Americans (McCarthy, J., 2018) rate the quality of the healthcare they personally receive as "excellent" or "good." Indeed, patients benefit from a strong relationship with their physician. Studies show that having the same physician over time is associated with lower rates of mortality (Pereira Gray, Sidaway-Lee, White, Thorne & Evans, 2018). But while Americans value their personal physician, most are dissatisfied (Jones, J. & Reinhart RJ, 2018) with the health care system in general, particularly the cost of health care. Doctors are also deeply dismayed with the healthcare system, and report
that paperwork, burdensome electronic health systems, and meaningless rules and regulations are driving their exodus out of clinical medicine. Patients are not oblivious to the toll that the system has placed on physicians. Many express empathy at seeing their personal physician hunched over a computer keyboard, despite their disappointment at a lack of eye contact during the visit. Knowing the burden of documentation requirements on doctors, most patients will accept scribes to be present during their office visit, allowing a third party to hear their most frightening symptoms and deepest worries. And increasingly, patients are paying a premium for more personalized medical care outside of the
