The game that used to be reserved for politicians; the game that parents are not supposed to play; the game that Google rankings depend on, celeb's slave for, teens die for, and medical school professors pretend to ignore; namely, the 'popularity contest'.
Now consider the effects of this game on the medical profession and its consequences for the rising cost of health care. Surprised? Just consider how you would rate your doctor in a patient satisfaction survey if he/she told you that you needed to lose 30 pounds?
"You can tell people to eat their vegetables all you want; they’re still going to remember more fondly the person who gave them a slice of cake."
Were you aware that the growing trend in the United States is to tie a physician's compensation to their performance - not in the operating room - not in providing quality evidence-based care - but on their rating on the
patient satisfaction survey?
 |
| Catering to Patients Can be Harmful to Their Health |
I invite you to read this very interesting article by Kai Falkenberg published in Forbes [Jan 2, 2013] called, "Why Rating Your Doctor is Bad for Your Health?" .
Labels: culture of healthcare, health care costs, patient satisfaction, physician patient interaction
Study finds they miss patients' cues about fears of well-being,
even death -- Sept. 22 (HealthDay News) -- "Physicians only responded to
10 percent of empathic opportunities and, when patients raised 'existential' concerns, physicians tended to shift more to biomedical responses," said study author
Dr. Diane Morse, an assistant professor of medicine and psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center, in New York.
"Empathy -- identifying with and understanding another person's situation and feelings -- has been linked with improved patient satisfaction, including less anxiety and better compliance with treatment. Physicians, residents and
medical students also show evidence of more satisfaction and less burnout if they provide empathy, Morse said."
Research published in latest issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
Labels: bedside manner, empathy, patient satisfaction, patient-physician communication
"This new web site offers information about 26 quality-of-care measures -- including quality of clinical care for specific procedures and what patients say about their experiences -- in almost 4,000 hospitals across the United States."
"The survey results included on Hospital Compare cover 10 main areas of patient experience, including how often doctors and nurses communicated well with patients, how often patients received help quickly, and patients' overall rating of hospitals."
Check today's news clip on the Nursing Reference Center homepage for more information.Labels: hospital services, patient satisfaction, quality of care, standards of care, statistics
