There are barriers to the dialog between patients and physicians. There are several areas of concern in the management of stress. Health care professionals and clergy need to be trained in the identification and management of distress. Dr. Holland also feels that medical contracts must include, for the purposes of insurance coverage, reimbursements for the management of stress. Finally, she notes that clinical health outcome research needs to include the assessment of distress and its impact on cost effectiveness.
Patient satisfaction is an integral part of medical care.
There has been a major shift to ambulatory settings. Consequently, the identification and management of distress is something that must be accomplished while patients are in for their brief outpatient visits. Having efficient methods and guidelines for this will streamline the process of treating a patient's distress. The first goal, according to Dr. Holland, is to establish standards for the identification and treatment of distress. Dr. Holland's group followed the footsteps of the palliative care movement which has already established guidelines to treat people in pain and developed standards for the treatment of distress.