Patient complaints have psychological repercussions
“I believe there is an art to medicine, a psychological connection to your patients through a hands-on patient encounter. There are nuances AI may take decades to compete with. For now, in my lifetime, I hope that people examine patients and when there are questions about the quality of care, institutions perform a deeper dive into the real problem. (Was it the overall experience, a poor relationship with the doctor, financial stress that would be assumed by paying the medical bill, or actual malpractice?) Without support from our employers, physicians will continue to feel the accumulation of burnout and insecurity that leads to emotional duress, leaving medical practice or the worst outcome: physician suicide. We are not machines. The burden cost is evident, but when will the medical community, investors, and hospital administrators begin to truly support physicians and prevent these terrible outcomes?”
Gina Ambrose is an emergency physician.
She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, “The psychological repercussions of patient complaints.” (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2021/07/the-psychological-repercussions-of-patient-complaints.html)
This episode is sponsored by Tradeoffs, available on your favorite podcast platform.