My Corner of the World: Health Care Reform Part I

Now that I got your attention I want to talk about real reform, which means clinical improvements in the doctor-patient relationship. The electronic data doctor era has further promulgated the distancing of  patient and doctor from each other. The physician unwittingly has contributed to this situation by needing to divide his time between care and documentation. How many people have seen their physician in the privacy of the exam room spending virtually half his time buried in the laptop rather than directly communicating. Listening is a very important tool of the doctor and has many healing qualities. Healing comes first, typing can wait.