Expectations lie at the heart of America's health care crisis. Although doctors cannot control for the unrealistic demands of a consumer-centric society, we might ask what we would want in a physician. Someone who listens longer and lets us express ourselves in our own words? Someone who cares about the outcome-our personal outcome-and not just the "clinical course"? Most patients do not demand perfection. Not cure. Not even relief, no matter what the TV commercials promise or how badly they wish them to be true. What we all desire is a plan that connects us to another human being-our doctor-which is a kind of relief all its own. The author identifies 6 simple habits that will lead to healthier, happier encounters with patients and their illness.
An emerging vision for primary care calls for the adoption of information technology and a strong business model to save a dying health care system. The authors are participants in the National Demonstration Project (NDP), a study sponsored by leading organizations in family medicine and directed by a forprofi t subsidiary of the American Academy of Family Physicians, TransforMED. The NDP embraces the Future of Family Medicine Report and seeks to test the ability of existing practices to implement its basic tenets. The NDP will conclude in June 2008, but its fi ndings and observations will likely ripple out for years. Our report is a personal refl ection that looks beyond the question of whether busy practices and practitioners can change horses midstream. We ask, "Is this primary care, and is this what it needs?"
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