Abraham Verghese, MD, senior associate chair of the department of internal medicine at Stanford (Calif.) University School of Medicine, discussed the provider-patient relationship with American Medical Association President Steven J. Stack, MD.
Here are five things to know:
1. Medical education is more focused on technology and less on the patient.
2. The physical exam in an important ritual that should not be overlooked. Dr. Verghese explained, "We shortchange the product of a ritual. Rituals are about transformation. The result of the ritual of the exam, I think, is the sealing of the patient-physician bond."
3. Patients are often put-off by a lack of a physician's touch, which may in turn affect patient satisfaction.
4. A recent study found physicians expressed feeling most fulfilled professionally when they helped patients lead healthier, happier lives.
5. Physicians cannot forgo the importance of interaction with a patient. Dr. Verghese said, "If we were to invest more time in listening to the patient, if we were to invest more time in training people to examine the patient well and make good sense of that information, I think the downstream effect would be that we would be ordering less tests, ordering fewer consults."
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