A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com.
Trust is the belief that another person or entity will act in your best interest, and it serves as the foundation upon which the doctor-patient relationship and our health care system are built.
But we have a significant trust paradox in American medicine. As individual physicians, we do very well in holding the public’s trust and confidence; but the medical profession as a whole, not so much.
When asked, over two-thirds of U.S. citizens rate the honesty and ethical standards of physicians as “very high” or “high,” and this percentage has actually increased slightly over the past fifty years. And surveys of individual patient satisfaction with the medical care they received during their most recent physician visit have also consistently been high.
Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.
