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Do Patients Trust Doctors Too
Much? Earlier this year, the American College of Surgeons, the national scientific and educational organization of surgeons, conducted a nationwide survey that found that the average patient devotes an hour or less to researching his or her surgery or surgeon. While prospective patients worry about the costs or complications of an operation, they don't necessarily look for information that would address their concerns. In fact, more than a third of patients who had an operation in the last five years never reviewed the credentials of the surgeon who operated. Patients are more likely to spend time researching a job change (on average, about 10 hours) or a new car (8 hours) than the operation they are about to submit to or the surgeon who wields (支配) the knife. And many patients are satisfied with the answers they receive from their surgeons or primary care doctors, whoever those individuals happen to be. I felt curious about the survey, so I called Dr. Thomas Russell, executive director of the American College of Surgeons. "There is a tendency for patients not to get particularly involved and not to feel compelled to look into their surgery or surgeons," he told me. There are consequences to that kind of blind trust. "Today, medicine and surgery are really team sports," Dr. Russell continued, "and the patient, as the ultimate decision maker, is the most important member of the team. Mistakes can happen, and patients have to be educated and must understand what is going on. " In other words, a healthy doctor-patient relationship does not simply entail good bedside manners and responsible office management on the part of the doctor. It also requires that patients come to the relationship educated about their doctors, their illnesses and their treatment. "If we are truly going to reform the health care system in the U. S. ," Dr. Russell said, "everybody has to participate actively and must educate themselves. That means doctors, nurses, other health care professionals, lawyers, pharmaceutical (制的) companies, and insurance companies. But most of all, it means the patient. " Trust is important. But as Sir Francis Bacon, who was among the first to understand the importance of gathering data in science, once observed, knowledge is power. |