Patient-Centered Care
August 9, 2008 – 9:05 amDr. RW has recently addressed the patient-centered care model of medicine.
I think patient care has to be patient-centered. I think we (physicians) are obligated to explain treatment options and present the supporting evidence. There are very few patients who want to know or who would be able to utilize statistics like NNT and ARR or ARI. In the end, patients want to know what is wrong, what the options are to fix it, what the risks and benefits are for those treatment options. Even more than that, they really want a doctor who listens to them and who appears to care about their well-being. These are totally reasonable expectations on the part of the patient. If a patient walks out of our clinic confused, we’ve failed them.
