Trifle verities always appear to be the truest, so is a well-known saying ‘Health is the most precious treasure’. It is not surprising then that health and health care issues have been evoking so much discussion in the society. Nowadays there is a great problem which the community is facing and it is the level of trust a patient can grant a doctor. The health care system now allows patients to somehow influence the overall situation and rate the doctors they have applied to with scores – either good or bad. The issue here is how a patient can definitely know (not being an MD) if the doctor’s judgment is absolutely right and the cure, they have prescribed, is the most effective. Moreover, sometimes the doctor’s and patient’s judgments can be absolutely polar when the first has years of study behind the back and the second has years of watching ER, House MD, Scrubs and the like. Dissatisfaction with the measures undertaken by the doctor can lead to patient’s frustration and unhappiness and a lower grade for the doctor. This problem has been mention among ‘Health care’s top 2012 issues’ published by amednews.com (Dolan, 2011). So, where is the golden mean here?Health Care Issues of the Day» Essay Paper

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This problem has become a focus of the article Patient satisfaction: When a doctor’s judgment risks a poor rating by Kevin B. O’Reilly (2012) published on amednews.com. The problem raised by the author is very actual now because, on the one hand, patients who are always very sensitive, require special attention and can feel offended if not ‘taken care of properly” (in their own interpretation of the word ‘properly’ which usually means ‘treated from al their pains and illnesses just immediately’). And, on the other hand, doctors care for their reputation and do not want to be rated bad because of the deeds which a patients could consider inappropriate. And, of course, doctors in any case do not want their patients be unhappy.

A curious but still alarming situation is described in the article. A patient came to Dr. Sullivan and asked to write a note to excuse her absence from work due to a small pimple on her nose. When the doctor asked how that almost invisible acne could influence her ability to work, the patient answered that she had been crying about it the whole night. The doctor refused to issue such an excuse note and suspects that patient to be among those dissatisfied who have given him bad score.Health Care Issues of the Day» Essay Paper

The situation here has got several important aspects. The patient’s self-esteem must have suffered due to the pimple, and the doctor’s refusal added some frustration to the already instable patient’s mood; the doctor’s reputation has suffered due to a patient’s sensitiveness and, to some extent, incompetence in the specifics of sick leaves issuing. Also the reputation of the clinic can suffer, because it is also assessed by the rating of its doctors. However, the solution of the problem seems to be rather simple. First of all, new criteria for evaluation of doctors by the patients should be developed, which could provide the most fair and clear assessment of the doctor’s actions for a patient. Second, special leaflets clearly and transparently describing doctor’s and patient’s duties and rights should be issued and spread in all the clinics and other medical organizations. Third, a special propaganda campaign should be organized aiming at explaining the specifics of the doctors’ job and the importance of the most accurate and fair patients’ rating. Such measures can prevent such diminishing o? doctor’s rating by a not very competent patient in future, and also can give patients all the necessary information about the specifics of medical job and doctor’s duties they need to know.Health Care Issues of the Day» Essay Paper

In general, situations when patients intrude into doctor’s work or mistake it are very frequent. Certainly, every person has the right to be aware of their medical state, of the prescriptions and of the treatment plan and this right is not alienable. However, sometimes patients tend to be rather intrusive and manipulative, trying to persuade the doctor to give  them the treatment which the doctor themselves consider inappropriate. Such cases are mentioned in the article under consideration: Dr. Zgierska described situations which are rather frequent in her doctoral practice:Health Care Issues of the Day» Essay Paper