I’ve always maintained that patients will make or break health reform plans.
And with no shortage of advocacy groups wanting a seat at the health reform table, the one that connects best with the public will have the most influence.
Doctors, despite being under continual criticism from progressive and health policy circles, still have the confidence of most patients.
According to a recent poll, despite acknowledging that tests are over-utilized, “82% of respondents said that they hadn’t received an unnecessary medical test or treatment over the past two years. And 87% said their doctor during that time hadn’t recommended an expensive test or treatment when a cheaper alternative would work just as well.”
So, patients still trust their doctors. And we best not squander that as contentious health reform negotiations soon begin in earnest.
Related posts:
- Do patients trust doctors to bring about health reform?
- Will patients or doctors be the biggest obstacle impeding health care reform?
- How should doctors discuss healthcare reform with patients?
- Health Care Reform: Putting Patients First, medical bloggers at Washington, DC
- What doctors can learn from patients in the health care reform debate
- How will the media influence health reform?
- Why health reform is going to be difficult, and the trouble with saying no to American patients
{ 3 comments }
Can you give reference for that poll? I would like to look at the entire study.
Some hospice patients aren’t doing their part?
I can’t help but wonder when the government will sanction “hemlock” deaths for the people who have the audacity not to die, soon enough.
The American people are sheep. They will cheer health care reform and act shocked when the expected consequences unfold. Can one muster up pity for a people with such a legacy of hard won freedom and independence who throw it away so readily? Never have a people been so deserving of all the misery that statism can deliver.
Comments on this entry are closed.