Always influenced by their A patient is where your medical practice starts. What if I told you that medicines cure diseases, but only medical practitioners can cure patients? Or that a good doctor’s reassuring words are sometimes more potent than medicines. Long odds, you think, correct? But best believe, as dim as it sounds, it is factual.
Doctor-Patient Relationship
The doctor-patient relationship necessitates both vulnerability and trust. It is one of the most moving and meaningful experiences that humans have ever shared. This relationship, and the encounters that result from it, are not always perfect.
The doctor-patient relationship has been defined as “a mutually beneficial relationship in which the patient knowingly seeks the physician’s assistance and the physician knowingly accepts the person as a patient.”
At its core, the doctor-patient relationship is fiduciary. The physician agrees to respect the patient’s autonomy, maintain confidentiality, and explain treatment options by entering the relationship.
Definition Limitations
obtain informed consent, provide the highest standard of care, and commit to not abandoning the patient without giving him or her adequate time to find a new doctor.
However, such a contractual definition fails to capture the vast and profound nature of the doctor-patient relationship. Patients may reveal secrets, worries, and fears to physicians that they have not yet revealed to friends or family members. Putting their trust in a doctor allows them to maintain or regain their health and well-being.
Doctor-Patient Relationship Components
This one-of-a-kind relationship consists of four key components: mutual knowledge, trust, loyalty, and regard. 2 The term knowledge refers to both the doctor’s knowledge of the patient and the patient’s knowledge of the doctor.
Trust entails the patient’s belief in the doctor’s competence and caring, and the doctor’s belief in the patient and his or her beliefs and symptoms report. Loyalty is defined as a patient’s willingness to forgive a doctor for any inconvenience or mistake, as well as the doctor’s commitment not to abandon a patient. Regard implies that the patients believe the doctor likes them as people and is “on their side.”
Different Doctor-Patient Models
Active-Passive Model
The active-passive model is the most traditional of the three. It is based on the physician acting on the patient, who is treated as if they were inanimate. This model may be appropriate in an emergency when the patient is unconscious or when a delay in treatment may result in irreversible harm. Consent (and potentially tricky conversations) are waived in such cases.
Guidance and Cooperation Model
In the guidance-cooperation model, a doctor is given power because he or she possesses medical knowledge that the patient does not. The doctor is expected to determine what is best for the patient and to make recommendations accordingly. Following that, the patient is expected to follow these recommendations.
Mutual Participation Model
This model is based on an equal partnership between the doctor and the patient. Because the patient is regarded as an expert in his or her life experiences and goals, patient involvement in treatment planning is essential.
The physician’s role is to elicit a patient’s goals and assist the patient in achieving these goals. This model requires that both parties have equal power, are mutually dependent, and engage in activities that are equally satisfying to both parties.
While each of these models may be appropriate in certain situations, there has been growing support for the mutual participation model in medical settings over the last several decades.
There is a subtle difference between the art of medicine and the love of humanity; both are monumental in human life. So today, I have got two things for you; a lesson on why you should keep your patients updated and a quick question.
Improves your patients understanding and satisfaction of their care
For every three medicines described by a doctor, two will be taken in a way the doctor advised, and one will not. Keeping your patients updated enhances health literacy, which improves the patients’ understanding and satisfaction with their care.
Helping a patient understand the essential health services is a must. All of the information that they require to make the right decisions. These are information about what the treatment entails, expected benefits, and what may happen if the patients choose not to go ahead with the treatment. Lack of clear understanding can contribute to a lack of and retention of instructions.
Allows you to compare the past and current status of the patient
When keeping a patient updated, you keep progress notes that serve as records of events during a patient’s care. This is to provide you a daily account of your client and their illness. It also helps you detect whether your client is getting worse, better, or remaining the same, thus sharing with the clients on updates.
Thanks to digital works, electronic health record systems are an everyday thing. It is a digital account of a patient’s paper chat containing patients’ medical and treatment histories. It goes beyond standard clinical data collected in the office and includes a broader view of a patient’s care. These records are easy to access. You can share them with other doctors. Kareo offers ehr systems for you to hire.
It helps to have a better relationship with your clients
Patients are in a vulnerable position. Not just by being ill or hurt. The balance of power is being tipped on by the caregiver. A good relationship between you and your patient encourages them to be more active in their healing process. These interactive activities involve your patients in their treatment and create a better relationship with you.
Keeping your patients updated encourages them to keep following up and become part of their healthcare regimen. Without you being fully aware of your patient’s needs and wants, your engagement strategy will be ineffective. But with good understanding, a good relationship can be quickly built. Almost every time, given the opportunity and the effort. You will see the results in everyday practice. This will also help your patients not showing up with sudden illness and recurring issues.
Helps your patients in better decision making
The goal of keeping your patients updated is to involve your patients in their health care plan to achieve healthy outcomes and provide better care. Keeping your patients actively engaged helps them to learn more about healthcare procedures and make the best decision for their situation.
Your patient’s health care decisions are going to be influenced by their lifestyle. Always influenced by their culture, religion, or personal ethics. You need to discuss the different medical treatment options. And to be completely transparent about the treatment. Benefits and potential health risks are going to be widely discussed.
It helps to preserve your results in a logical, easy-to-understand way effectively
Your ability to determine gaps between your patient’s understanding of their health situation and your understanding of the situation is essential. No one wants to go around discouraging their patients by telling them how chronic their condition is or how soon they are going to die. You are should stay on a positive course.
Similarly, you do not want to go to your patients not being fully aware of what is affecting them, abashment. Keeping your patients updated motivates you to better understanding and self-gratification. Consequently, there is confidence due to the surety of what you are saying. This helps you to present your results in a logical, easy-to-understand way to your patient.
Here is a quick self-evaluation question as promised. Have you ever thought of how thin of a line there is between being healthy and ailing? But then they said, God gives his most challenging battles to his most brutal soldiers!