After moving to a new area I was happy to find a gynecologist who seemed thorough, professional and capable. I figured that was more than enough. But on the evaluation questionnaire from the multispecialty clinic where he practices, I made a point of saying extra nice things about him. Reason? He's a bit shy, his English isn't quite 100%...and I know that his evaluations will suffer because he doesn't ask patients about their golf game, chat about local news or turn on the charm. In other words, all he does is a good job of practicing medicine.
It seems that nowadays it's not enough to master the constantly expanding amount of information we're responsible for, or to show good clinical judgment and surgical technique. In a culture that treats patients as customers who can make their own healthcare decisions whether they've had medical training or not, "patient satisfaction" (whether it's based on perception or reality) trumps competence every time.
Yeah, I know the clinic has to fight to keep well-insured and fee-for-service "customers" coming to stay financially sound. But I would like to know that chart reviews and peer evaluations are being given at least as much weight by its management as the impressions of people who never set foot in a healthcare facility except as "consumers".
It seems that nowadays it's not enough to master the constantly expanding amount of information we're responsible for, or to show good clinical judgment and surgical technique. In a culture that treats patients as customers who can make their own healthcare decisions whether they've had medical training or not, "patient satisfaction" (whether it's based on perception or reality) trumps competence every time.
Yeah, I know the clinic has to fight to keep well-insured and fee-for-service "customers" coming to stay financially sound. But I would like to know that chart reviews and peer evaluations are being given at least as much weight by its management as the impressions of people who never set foot in a healthcare facility except as "consumers".
This very well-qualified guy is going to get an evaluation session from his department head in which his personality score will be mentioned along with clinical competence. And they wonder why doctors are cutting their hours and retiring early?
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