This
is my second blog in response to some comments that were posted after my new transparency
campaign, Who’s My Doctor, was featured
on KevinMD
and Medscape. As
with the first blog, the responses from dissenting doctors are divided into three
themes. I have listed these themes, followed by direct quotes and my responses.
Theme #3: There are many other problems in healthcare to tackle. It’s stupid to tackle this issue.
“She may be an ER doc but she does not seem to think. Does she think it will solve anything being transparent? Will that solve the HC crisis?”
“This is totally absurd. I am way too busy taking care of my patients who need my service as a physician, to spend my time defending myself against some media manufactured crap.”
“Should I tell the psychotic patient "yes, you're correct. Those voices in your head telling you to kill your mother are not your imagination". Of course not. Why? Because that patient is insane. As insane as our government manipulated medical system. Most ideas that I read about are just tinkering with an insane system. Insanity is making a medical insurance company pay for routine care. Does your auto insurance provide coverage for every ding and scratch of paint, oil changes, brake pads? Of course not. Government meddling, the purpose being for power and control of the citizen is what it's all about. Plain and simple. Boiled down to its raison d'etre.”
“Senators, Congress members and managers across every major industry accept gifts, business incentives, and informative handouts from their vendors - this is called free market, and any information exchange is protected by the 1st amendment. You fixers, like the meddling Dr. Wen, will be unpleasantly surprised to awaken to NO DOCTORS WILLING TO PRACTICE MEDIVINE (sic) UNDER HYPER-REGULATED GOVERNMENT CONTROL!”
While there are no doubt other problems in our medical system that require other solutions, including malpractice and high cost of care, transparency is one way for us as physicians to say to our patients that we want to do our part to counter fear and reinstill professionalism. (The opposite is also true: if we are hiding from our patients our financial incentives when we order a test or procedure, that further leads to lack of trust and lack of professionalism.)
There is evidence to show that disclosure improves trust, and that patients want trust. In a recent study, “Most (patient) agreed that disclosure of competing interests by doctors is important (84%), believing this disclosure would help patients make better informed treatment decisions (78%). Eighty per cent of patients stated that they would have more confidence in their doctor's decisions if interests were fully disclosed, with strong support for verbal disclosure during the consultation (78%).” While some people may not wish to know about their doctors’ disclosures, many people—the majority—do. Having a voluntary disclosure by doctors gives interested patients that opportunity to find out.
One final point I’ll add to the doctors who really don’t like the idea of transparency is that disclosure is happening, with or without doctors’ participation. Info about doctors is increasingly out there, about “ratings”, “quality”, “patient satisfaction”, etc. Doctors may not like this—and we may not even like the disclosures that are getting put out there about us. But since it’s out there, why not have a website where doctors can control some of that information, and add our own philosophies of practice and who we are? Who’s My Doctor is an attempt to take back that control and put it back into the individual doctor's hands to say, this is who I am, this is why I do what I do, and I am telling you this because I have nothing to hide--everything I do is in my patients' best interests.
To be sure, this is not the only solution to the vast problems in healthcare. However, we also cannot say that just because there are huge problems, that we should not do our best to do some small things that may have positive impacts.
Theme #4: All of this information is irrelevant to patients. It’s not their business, and I wouldn’t want to know this about my doctor.
“I think Dr. Goody 2 Shoes is not a strong enough title for Dr. Wen. Pretty soon we will have disclose where we buy our lab coats from, and what toilet paper we use. NO, this type of idiocy must stop. If this is allowed to proceed I envision my gas station attendant disclosing his investments in the Oil Company he works for, and my Server telling me that she came up with the recipe for the hot sauce on the table BEFORE getting to the specials. C'mon, wake up! Stupidity Outrageicus (sic)!!”
“I don't need to know that my doctor has an investment home in Maui or that she helps run her Synagogue's youth group and supports the World Wildlife Federation and the Coalition for Home Schooling or that she collects Precious Moments figurines."
“'Ballroom dancing', 'will never smoke a cigarette'. Please!! What will be next, 'I have never stalked anyone', 'I don't see porn'”
Research shows that patients are more likely to comply with recommendations when they come from a doctor whose world view aligns more closely with their own. Who’s My Doctor offers the opportunity to find doctors who have particular expertise and interest in certain fields, such as preventive health, alternative medicine, women’s health, etc. This information is voluntary, so doctors don’t have to discuss their personal views on these issues. Some doctors choose to disclose personal stories and views, because we believe it humanizes us, and that sharing the stories allow patients insight into who we are and how we think.
We don’t presume that all information is relevant to every patient. Some patients may not wish to know their doctor’s revenue streams; others may not want to know their doctors’ personal information. However, some patients will want to know this information when making a decision about which doctor to choose. Rather than having doctors deciding what information is important, we prefer to give that choice to patients.
All of this is in the context that participation is voluntary, and doctors can choose what information they would like to disclose. Some doctors wish to only disclose potential conflicts of interest; others wish to have more personal information including their philosophy of practice of preventive care, women’s healthcare, end of life choices, etc, available for their patients to see.
Theme #5: You pretend to represent doctors, but you can’t because you’re too [young, inexperienced, female, foreign, Asian, “socialist”, “fascist”, “anti-American”, stupid, etc]. Besides, you have personal gain, aren’t you making money from this thing?
(The comments on the original sites related to this theme are not suitable for posting on this blog—if you’d like to read them yourself, please see links above.)
I started Who's My Doctor entirely voluntarily, because I believe it is the right thing to do, not because I will have some personal gain from it. It is not a profit-making entity, nor will it ever be. My medical school is not a tenure-track institution so I personally do not gain financially or academically from this program (if anything, with the objections from so many doctors, putting myself out there could result in significant professional jeopardy).
At the moment, I volunteer my time at least 20-30 hours a week to this project because I believe it is important for our patients. I reiterate that I do not make any money from Who's My Doctor at all, and in fact volunteer my time to this cause that aims to bring together doctors and patients to the cause of transparency, service, and professionalism.
I also do not profess to represent all doctors, all patients, or the healthcare system. Quite the opposite; I think that for too long, we have had a hierarchical structure that is doctor-centered and not patient-centered. I represent myself as a doctor and patient and caregiver. We need to hear the voices of more patients and caregivers--people who don't have "titles" or "legitimacy" as traditionally defined, but who have extremely valuable opinions when it comes to their health.
It is to understand what people want from their healthcare that drives me to do what I do every day. You don't need an MD or some title in a hospital to speak on healthcare issues. In fact, the most important voices are the ones that aren't being heard.
Thanks, everyone, for reading. I'd love to know what you think; please comment below. If you are interested in joining Who’s My Doctor, please visit www.whosmydoctor.com and our Facebook page.
Theme #3: There are many other problems in healthcare to tackle. It’s stupid to tackle this issue.
“She may be an ER doc but she does not seem to think. Does she think it will solve anything being transparent? Will that solve the HC crisis?”
“This is totally absurd. I am way too busy taking care of my patients who need my service as a physician, to spend my time defending myself against some media manufactured crap.”
“Should I tell the psychotic patient "yes, you're correct. Those voices in your head telling you to kill your mother are not your imagination". Of course not. Why? Because that patient is insane. As insane as our government manipulated medical system. Most ideas that I read about are just tinkering with an insane system. Insanity is making a medical insurance company pay for routine care. Does your auto insurance provide coverage for every ding and scratch of paint, oil changes, brake pads? Of course not. Government meddling, the purpose being for power and control of the citizen is what it's all about. Plain and simple. Boiled down to its raison d'etre.”
“Senators, Congress members and managers across every major industry accept gifts, business incentives, and informative handouts from their vendors - this is called free market, and any information exchange is protected by the 1st amendment. You fixers, like the meddling Dr. Wen, will be unpleasantly surprised to awaken to NO DOCTORS WILLING TO PRACTICE MEDIVINE (sic) UNDER HYPER-REGULATED GOVERNMENT CONTROL!”
While there are no doubt other problems in our medical system that require other solutions, including malpractice and high cost of care, transparency is one way for us as physicians to say to our patients that we want to do our part to counter fear and reinstill professionalism. (The opposite is also true: if we are hiding from our patients our financial incentives when we order a test or procedure, that further leads to lack of trust and lack of professionalism.)
There is evidence to show that disclosure improves trust, and that patients want trust. In a recent study, “Most (patient) agreed that disclosure of competing interests by doctors is important (84%), believing this disclosure would help patients make better informed treatment decisions (78%). Eighty per cent of patients stated that they would have more confidence in their doctor's decisions if interests were fully disclosed, with strong support for verbal disclosure during the consultation (78%).” While some people may not wish to know about their doctors’ disclosures, many people—the majority—do. Having a voluntary disclosure by doctors gives interested patients that opportunity to find out.
One final point I’ll add to the doctors who really don’t like the idea of transparency is that disclosure is happening, with or without doctors’ participation. Info about doctors is increasingly out there, about “ratings”, “quality”, “patient satisfaction”, etc. Doctors may not like this—and we may not even like the disclosures that are getting put out there about us. But since it’s out there, why not have a website where doctors can control some of that information, and add our own philosophies of practice and who we are? Who’s My Doctor is an attempt to take back that control and put it back into the individual doctor's hands to say, this is who I am, this is why I do what I do, and I am telling you this because I have nothing to hide--everything I do is in my patients' best interests.
To be sure, this is not the only solution to the vast problems in healthcare. However, we also cannot say that just because there are huge problems, that we should not do our best to do some small things that may have positive impacts.
Theme #4: All of this information is irrelevant to patients. It’s not their business, and I wouldn’t want to know this about my doctor.
“I think Dr. Goody 2 Shoes is not a strong enough title for Dr. Wen. Pretty soon we will have disclose where we buy our lab coats from, and what toilet paper we use. NO, this type of idiocy must stop. If this is allowed to proceed I envision my gas station attendant disclosing his investments in the Oil Company he works for, and my Server telling me that she came up with the recipe for the hot sauce on the table BEFORE getting to the specials. C'mon, wake up! Stupidity Outrageicus (sic)!!”
“I don't need to know that my doctor has an investment home in Maui or that she helps run her Synagogue's youth group and supports the World Wildlife Federation and the Coalition for Home Schooling or that she collects Precious Moments figurines."
“'Ballroom dancing', 'will never smoke a cigarette'. Please!! What will be next, 'I have never stalked anyone', 'I don't see porn'”
Research shows that patients are more likely to comply with recommendations when they come from a doctor whose world view aligns more closely with their own. Who’s My Doctor offers the opportunity to find doctors who have particular expertise and interest in certain fields, such as preventive health, alternative medicine, women’s health, etc. This information is voluntary, so doctors don’t have to discuss their personal views on these issues. Some doctors choose to disclose personal stories and views, because we believe it humanizes us, and that sharing the stories allow patients insight into who we are and how we think.
We don’t presume that all information is relevant to every patient. Some patients may not wish to know their doctor’s revenue streams; others may not want to know their doctors’ personal information. However, some patients will want to know this information when making a decision about which doctor to choose. Rather than having doctors deciding what information is important, we prefer to give that choice to patients.
All of this is in the context that participation is voluntary, and doctors can choose what information they would like to disclose. Some doctors wish to only disclose potential conflicts of interest; others wish to have more personal information including their philosophy of practice of preventive care, women’s healthcare, end of life choices, etc, available for their patients to see.
Theme #5: You pretend to represent doctors, but you can’t because you’re too [young, inexperienced, female, foreign, Asian, “socialist”, “fascist”, “anti-American”, stupid, etc]. Besides, you have personal gain, aren’t you making money from this thing?
(The comments on the original sites related to this theme are not suitable for posting on this blog—if you’d like to read them yourself, please see links above.)
I started Who's My Doctor entirely voluntarily, because I believe it is the right thing to do, not because I will have some personal gain from it. It is not a profit-making entity, nor will it ever be. My medical school is not a tenure-track institution so I personally do not gain financially or academically from this program (if anything, with the objections from so many doctors, putting myself out there could result in significant professional jeopardy).
At the moment, I volunteer my time at least 20-30 hours a week to this project because I believe it is important for our patients. I reiterate that I do not make any money from Who's My Doctor at all, and in fact volunteer my time to this cause that aims to bring together doctors and patients to the cause of transparency, service, and professionalism.
I also do not profess to represent all doctors, all patients, or the healthcare system. Quite the opposite; I think that for too long, we have had a hierarchical structure that is doctor-centered and not patient-centered. I represent myself as a doctor and patient and caregiver. We need to hear the voices of more patients and caregivers--people who don't have "titles" or "legitimacy" as traditionally defined, but who have extremely valuable opinions when it comes to their health.
It is to understand what people want from their healthcare that drives me to do what I do every day. You don't need an MD or some title in a hospital to speak on healthcare issues. In fact, the most important voices are the ones that aren't being heard.
Thanks, everyone, for reading. I'd love to know what you think; please comment below. If you are interested in joining Who’s My Doctor, please visit www.whosmydoctor.com and our Facebook page.
2 comments:
Agree on #1, be honest with us, you expect it from us. We tell you if we can't afford a treatment, if you are steering us to one, we need to evaluate it in terms of what we can afford, pay, and live with as a treatment according to our restraints and beliefs.
#2, they are exaggerating that heavily. No one is asking for that level of anything. Besides, saying I get 70% of my pay from a salaried position, 30% from doing research for Boehringer, doesn't tell me anything about the salary. It just says I want to know what Boehringer markets and if given something by them, to review it. Or I got a $5K bonus from Boehringer. I have had a doctor who chose treatments "based on what I thought was right", not what was right for the patient. I had no say in it.
#3 and that is what I think is the issue: we're going from doctor controlled to patient controlled. Some people want that, some don't. Those of us who do, should be given that choice and not have our options limited because of that. If the idea is that a doctor wants to "help people" & that's why they do into medicine, why not allow them choices that fit their own life, beliefs, and purse? I've been on the end of more than one doctor who didn't believe it, and when you know medical evidence, that's how I know its a very scary thing to have someone else decide your life.
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