Use generous orthodoxy to drive health care change

“You must respect the body you are trying to heal.” I heard this said twice into my headphones, the second time more slowly and firmly than the first, while I sat on the runway about to take off. It continued to echo in my head over the course of the flight. As a physician, the reference to healing a body has obvious resonance. However, as I embarked on yet another gathering of health care leaders discussing how to make our health care system better, this assertion took on a broader significance. Clinicians often hear about — and experience daily — our “broken health care system.” There is little doubt that our system is sick, but it is not yet terminal. Physicians understand the art of treating a diseased person, bringing together clinical science and knowledge with emotional empathy and respect. Yet, when we become health care leaders, managers, or administrators and turn our sights toward health care delivery reform, the art and empathy may get left behind somewhere in the pockets of our white coats. (As a practicing hospitalist who recently took on a relatively prominent administrative role, I currently place myself within both groups.) Too frequently, the conversation devolves into finger-pointing and anger-filled language about the “industrial health complex,” which is met with scorns of “Why can’t those docs just change what they do?” Continue reading ... Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: ...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Physician Hospital Source Type: blogs