MANAGED CARE

Managed Care

Managed Care

Introduction

With the realization that today's consumer has access to the finest medical care in the world but often does not receive it, then one can see why patients have must carefully choose their primary physician.

Healthcare today is constantly becoming more driven by managed care (Korsch & Harding, 1997) and this is affecting the way patients are cared for. It is critical for patients to know what kinds of things to look for in a doctor and to know what doctors expect of them.

The purpose of this research project is to assist patients in finding the health care provider most suited to meet their individual needs and to develop and nurture a relationship with that provider.

Physician - Patient Relationship

It is believed that the patient-doctor relationship alone can have a tremendous healing power (Schwartz, Jimenez, Myers and Solomon, 1998). If so, it is clear why it is necessary for the lines of communication between the patient and doctor to remain open at all times. There must be a comfort level that allows the patient to express concerns without fear of reprisal. There are many reasons that a person might need to seek a new physician. This could be a result of relocation, death of a primary care provider or simply unhappiness with the quality of care that is currently being provided. Regardless of the reason for searching for a health care provider it is important that patients know what needs they should expect to have met by the physician. This information can help patients to ensure that they are getting the care that they should expect from their physician.

Some years earlier, according to Chin (2002), physicians have been allowed to interfere with patient's decisions with the objective of ensuring patient benefit and preventing harm. However with the influence of freedom and individual control, medical paternalism is no longer used as the dominant way of decision-making in health care. Nowadays, the principle of autonomy and self determination is the leading issue in health care, threatening in many instances the principle of medical beneficence (Chin, 2002).

The change from medical paternalism to patient autonomy can be clearly seen when comparing two articles of the American Medical Association one dating 1847 and stating that obedience to prescriptions by patients should be prompt and implicit; and the other one dating 1990 stating otherwise, that the patient has the right to decide regarding his health as recommended by his/her physician.

When determining patient needs it is necessary to explore what types of things a patient should expect from his or her physician. A general rule that patients can utilize in assessing a physician is often referred to as the Four C's of health care. These are comfort with the physician, the physicians' competence, the physicians' confidence level and how much they seem to care about their work and their patients (Schwartz et. al., 1998).

Looking for a physician when well affords the opportunity to research thoroughly and scrutinize all aspects of the physicians' ...