The article covers the concept of physician and patient relationship. It also explains how it is important to create on in order to go through a successful treatment. The relationship starts when the patient goes to the physician for his treatment and the physician accepts the patient. The relationship is not emotional but a contractual one in which legal duties and obligations have to be fulfilled. The article talks about how this relationship is created which is due to mutual consent of the physician and the patient. Furthermore, it says that once the relationship is created, the physician owes duties to the patient that he has to fulfill during their relationship. Four different ways are also mentioned which tell how the relationship can be terminated. The article says that the relationship between the physician and the patient is a bond of ethical and legal framework until it exists.
Clearly identify and describe what you consider the two (2) or three (3) key points covered in the article.
The first key point covered in this article is about how relationship is created between the patient and the physician by mutual consent. Just making an appointment for the first time does not create a relation between the two. It is made when the physician undertakes to diagnose and treat the patient and the patient participates in the diagnosis and treatment.
The second key point states the duties of the physician and the patient to each other. For e.g. the physician has a duty to provide medical care that falls within the standard of care, obtain consent, maintain confidentiality, and provide community care. Similarly, the patient has a duty to provide complete medical history, request information or clarification about their treatment, keep appointments, and follow agreed upon treatment plans etc.
The third key point is about termination of the relationship between the physician and the patient that can be done by mutual consent to terminate the relationship, or when the patient dismisses a physician’s for any reason. When the physician terminates it after giving adequate time to find another doctor or when there is no longer a need for the physician’s services.
Explain how the information in the article relates to you, your profession or your health care organization, or a health care organization familiar to you.
In every general hospital, there is always a physician present and the relationship between the both is very important. When a relationship is poor between the physician and the patient, the physician compromises his ability to compose a complete assessment and the patient then does not trust the treatment and diagnosis proposed by the physician . I can relate to it, in a way that my physician is easily accessible; on call and in the hospital. He follows all the duties mentioned in the article, which ultimately strengthens the relationship.
List two critical thinking questions, related to the information in the article.
First question: The article mentions several reasons by which a physician might decline to treat the patient. All these reasons seem racist. Can the patient file a complaint if the physician does not accept the patient for these reasons?
Second question: Does the physician-patient relationship consist of a personal touch by the physician?
Bibliography
Veatch, R. M. (1991). The Patient-Physician Relation: The Patient as Partner, Part 2. US: Indiana University Press.
