The relationship between a doctor and a patient is a pivotal one. Doctors make every efforts, to have a healthy relationship with their patients. The analytic essay highlights the relationship between doctors and patients, the extent to which a doctor can use medical maximalism to communicate to the patient the adverse effects of the disease. The essay revolves around the Mamede’s article and ways that doctor can implement to achieve the balance between informal and rigid ways of treating patients. The paper also highlights the studies of Dr. Angelo Volandes and other relevant studies. Mamede, Van Gog and Schuit highlight the disruptive behavior displayed by patients that could be the cause of affecting the doctor’s diagnostic reasoning (Mamede 1). The whole essay tries to explain the way doctors should deal with the patients who ask for decisions, online relationship between doctors and patients, and relationship of doctors with difficult patients.
Doctors can be inaccurate about the patient's preferences and do not convey entire information to patients. As a result, people opt for procedures that are not suitable because lack complete information (Rauch 10). Mulley believes that silent misdiagnosis has to stop, and doctors have to take into account the patient’s preferences and communicate them about the complete information of the disease. As a result of properly communicated information, fully informed patient rationally and confidently chooses the treatment. On the contrary, if a patient hesitates to choose treatment for himself and asks for recommendations, the doctor has to recommend the best treatment available. If a patient seeks the doctor guidance, the doctor needs to implement medical diagnosis as well as preference diagnosis in guiding a patient (Mamede 2).
There are certain steps that doctor can deploy while dealing a patient which will also help the doctor in building a healthy relationship with the patient. The three steps a doctor can implement in taking care of preferences of patients include adopting a scientific detachment mindset, formulating data based provisional diagnosis and engaging patient in conversation (Mulley 9). The efforts doctors make to build a strong relationship include ways doctors should deal with the patients who ask for decision, strengthening online relationship between doctors and patients, and effective relationship of doctors with difficult patients (Mulley 10). In scientific detachment, a doctor has to detach emotional feelings from the patient in order to communicate the adverse effects of the disease. Furthermore, doctors have to tell honestly the patient about the treatments he specializes in and the medical institution that provides high volume. Moreover, the doctors collect the data about the patient’s preferences and what kind of treatment the patient would prefer before communicating with the patient. It is also called provisional preference diagnosis and would give a better understanding of the patient to the doctor and will help in removing the gap between the two. The most effective step to building a healthy relationship between the doctor and patient is engaging the patient in conversation by making the patient feel at ease. Usually, patients do not feel comfortable if the doctor does not show interest in making conversation and patients tend to behave in a rigid way and do not feel easy about opening up to the doctor, Doctors have to avoid this to get maximum information from the patient.
The disruptive behavior of patients can affect the doctor’s diagnostic reasoning which ends up in diagnostic errors. These errors can largely affect the relationship between the doctor and the patient. Some patients make it difficult for doctors to focus on clinical findings since they ask for more attention and doctors spend a major chunk of their mental resources on handling disruptive patient behaviors than clinical findings. Doctors fail to make proper clinical decisions for difficult patients than neutral patients. Psychological researches conducted by different doctors proved that clinical decisions are affected when doctors dealt with difficult patients. Also, building the relationship between the doctor and the difficult patient can be tougher than with the neutral patient (Mamede 2). According to Mamede, Van Gog and Schuit, research highlights the negative effects of emotions on decision-making, and concludes that emotional reactions to disruptive patients can end up in diagnostic errors (Mamede, p. 4). However, the clinical reasoning gets affected by the disruptive behaviors of patients. Through various studies conducted by Mamede, Van Gog and Schuit, it has been concluded that the disruptive behaviors of patients affect the doctor’s clinical reasoning, and they end up making diagnostic errors. The research studies conducted by Mamede and other authors have proved disruptive behaviors negatively affect the decisions made by physicians (Mamede, p.5).
The relationship between the doctor and the patient is a fundamental relationship where the doctor has to empathize with the patient and also has to adopt a mindset of scientific detachment while. Although deploying the mindset of scientific detachment is difficult, once doctor understands the concept, he can easily build a strong relationship with the patient. The doctor has to make the patient feel easy about the disease that is a tough task, once the doctor achieves it, communicating with the patient becomes easy (Mulley 3). The doctor can use plain English in explaining the disease rather than using medical terms that can be hard for patients to understand. Usually, doctors do not properly inform the patients but doctors are required to tell patients everything, and patients need to have complete information to make decisions. Mulley believes that not communicating properly to the patient leads to silent misdiagnosis which has far more adverse effects. It has to stop to form the basis for a strong relationship. Various studies have proved, if a doctor wants to develop a healthy relationship, the doctor has to be honest about the complete treatment and other risky procedures involved. The doctor has to build trust so that patients feel easy opening up to the doctor.
Farnan, Sulmasy and Worster have tried to emphasize on the ethics and professionalism implemented while building up a relationship between the doctor and the patient. Volandes has carefully incorporated the professionalism and self-regulation suggested by Farnan, Sulmasy and Worster. According to Farnan, Sulmasy and Worster, establishing a positive doctor-patient relationship and maintaining professional decorum at the same time should be the core elements of training doctors. Farnan, Sulmasy and Worstersuggested that online professionalism refers to posting medical information on social media, and doctors have to be very careful while establishing an online or offline relationship with patients. Online professionalism is challenging due to ambiguous reasons such as written language without the context of body language and lack of awareness of the potential abuses of social media. In building up the strong relationship between doctor and the patient, confidentiality and urgency are considered essential. Volandes through his video has tried to explain the effects of medical maximalism and patients’ reactions to certain treatments.
Volandes tries to show the treatments to the patients than by describing them because according to him to build an understanding of the disease, it is better to show to the patients than to describe them in medical terms that are hard for patients to grasp. According to Farnan, Sulmasy and Worster, doctors should consider the quality of online resources such as websites, peer reviewed journals so that the patients can benefit easily from such sources. Doctors need to avoid medical maximalism that is defined as taking the risk without completely informing the patients, and it has far more effects on the relationship between the doctor and the patient. A patient loses his confidence and trust in the doctor if a doctor fails to satisfy questions.
Psychologically patients are affected, if doctors fail to communicate to them properly. In the studies conducted by Mamede, Farnan, Mulley, and Volandes, they have tried to prove how a relationship between patient and a doctor matters. Mamede also has emphasized on the negative effects of disruptive patients on the decisions made by doctor. Farnan, Sulmasy and Worsterbelieved that relationships tended to be stronger with a better understanding and complete provision of disease information between doctors and patients. Volandes implemented Farnan, Sulmasy and Worster’s findings and provided his patients with an online display of treatments that helped him in building a healthy relationship (Farnan 2). Although online technologies provide opportunities as well as challenges to ethics and the professionalism, still such online technologies can help in building a strong relationship between physicians and patients. Volandes through his films tried to educate doctors and the patients about the treatments and procedures, and it helped tremendously.
It has been analyzed that maintaining a healthy relationship is crucial, and the doctors should take steps in harnessing a positive relationship with the patients. Proper communication also helps on a large scale in building the relationship between the doctor and the patient. It has been concluded in order to build a stronger relationship with patients, detailed study of the patients is mandatory. Also, the dealings with patients have to be on a level where patient feels easy to open up to their doctors. The pre-study of the case file of the patient also helps the doctor in understanding their patients, and therefore, a stronger relationship between the doctor and the patient can be built.
Works cited
Farnan, Jeanne M., et al. "Online Medical Professionalism: Patient and Public Relationships: Policy Statement From the American College of Physicians and the Federation of State Medical Boards." Annals of Internal Medicine 158.8 (2013): 620-628. Print.
Mulley, Albert G, Chris Trimble and Glyn Elwyn. "Stop the silent misdiagnosis: patients’ preferences matter." 2012. BMJ. Web. 6 June 2016 <http://www.bmj.com/content/345/bmj.e6572>.
Mamede, Sílvia, et al. "Why patients’ disruptive behaviours impair diagnostic reasoning: a randomised experiment." BMJ Quality & Safety (2016): 1-6. Print.
Rauch, Jonatthan. "How Not to Die." 2013. The Atlantic. Web, 6 June 2016 <http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/05/how-not-to-die/309277/?single_page=truefor>.
