That's one-third of all Americans. The ripple effect will be like dropping a stone into a still pond. I predict this new demand for quality will fundamentally reshape American health care and the very crux of the doctor-patient relationship. Today, patients are consumers of health care. Patients are not as automatically trusting, not as accepting, not as forgiving as they were back when Normal Rockwell painted his famous scene of the kindly town doctor holding his stethoscope to the little girl's doll.
Patients are more demanding, more vocal, more informed.
Patients are no longer willing to settle for less than the best-the best medicine, the best care, the best bedside manner. They want a physician with the skills of ER's Dr. Mark Green.the sensitivity of MASH's Dr. Hawkeye Pierce.and perhaps the looks of George Clooney or Jane Seymour thrown in for good measure. All of these are good things. We want patients to demand the best, to take an active role in their health care and their healing. I won't deny that meeting the challenges of putting patients first will be difficult.