The Wall Street Journal reports that people don’t trust their doctors like they once did. In one anecdote, a physician said her relatives do not seek her out to ask her for medical advice like they used to. The writer concluded that patients’ trust in the health care system has fallen in recent years and physicians are no exception. The following is from WSJ:
Doctors retain a high ranking in terms of honesty and ethical standards among Americans, but trust levels have fallen markedly since 2021, according to Gallup’s annual professions ratings. About 53% of those polled in 2024 gave a high or very high rating to medical doctors, down from 67% in 2021. It’s the biggest drop among 23 professions ranked by Gallup in that period.
That’s notable. We’ve long relied on doctors to remedy our pains, make lifesaving decisions and have our best interest in mind. Now people feel less confident. They see a series of time-pressed physicians who keep visits short and struggle to build rapport with patients. That often makes it seem as if they are dismissing concerns or letting biases creep into care.
Patients want more information on diseases and conditions than they get from their doctors. The article goes on to say patients often use Google. Google reports there are roughly 70,000 health related searches every minute. Moreover, data going back 20 years found Americans go online in search of health information about 100 million times a year.
Before the Internet, patients got all their health information from their doctor. Americans still trust their physicians in my opinion, but in the 10 minutes of face time during an office visit the amount of information exchanged is limited. Patients forget to ask many of the questions they meant to ask, and they retain only about half of the information conveyed. By contrast, a few minutes spent perusing health websites on the Internet can uncover far more information than their doctor would ever have time to discuss.
The WSJ did not say this but it’s actually rather simple. The Information Age has increased consumers’ demand for health information. Emailing your cousin who’s a doctor, calling your physician brother-in-law (I have one) or cornering that nice doctor at church just does not provide enough information. Seeing your doctor just to ask questions is time-consuming, often expensive and provides too little in the way of new information.
There is a shortage of physicians. Those that exist are paid by someone other than the patient 90% of the time. That is one reason some people patronize direct primary care (DPC) physicians. Many patients are willing to pay more for their doctor’s time, because DPC doctors make the time to answer all their questions. A relatively recent way Americans get health information is through YouTube physicians. Some sell memberships (or use Patreon) allowing supporters to ask questions.
At its core, the doctor/patient relationship is an information exchange. Patients (and their medical records) provide patient data, while physicians provide output in the form of information and treatments. While some doctors provide procedures (i.e. surgery), much of the time doctors provide mostly just information. Thus, when their main product is their time, primary care physicians are often rushed with limited time for personalized care. Those patients with exceptional problems are often seen by a specialist.
There is no easy fix to the shortage of information patients experience in the U.S. health care system. Once patients obtain information, they still must see their doctor to act on what they have found. Telemedicine boosts efficiency by streamlining the process for some treatments. Patients fill out a form, a doctor processes the information, with prescriptions sent directly to the patient. That may fill a need, but not necessarily help with the information exchange. In the future artificial intelligence may fill the gap between patients’ desire for more information and physicians’ rushed schedule.
Read more at WSJ: Why We Don’t Trust Doctors Like We Used To
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