Another soft paper for you to mull over.
“Caring and compassion were once often the only “treatment” available to clinicians. Over time, advances in medical science have provided new options that, although often improving outcomes, have inadvertently distanced physicians from their patients. The result is a health care environment in which patients and their families are often excluded from important discussions and left feeling in the dark about how their problems are being managed and how to navigate the overwhelming array of diagnostic and treatment options available to them……”
Please let us know what you think of the paper and the concepts in the paper.
The paper says "Recognition of shared decision making as the pinnacle of patient-centered care is overdue": The statement is quite puzzling. I think patients and families who want to be involved have always shared in decision making (outside of the military etc).The internet has made
If you have a kindle you can get free samples of New England journal of medicine (two week trial) so you can get at the article.
The article is now free text in the NEJM.