The Heart of Healthcare

With all the interest in healthcare reform these days, I found this quote from the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences in 1994 most interesting. It was written by Robert O'Brien, CEO of Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New York. He writes:

The art of medicine as practiced by the excellent physician is not just the recall of technical data from medical texts and journals. It is the synthesis of this information, the power of deductive reasoning, and the skill of active listening in a physician-patient encounter. The excellent physician has the intelligence, intuition, and interpersonal skills and respect for the patient that no battery of tests or detailed medical records or clinical protocols can replace. When the physician brings all these attributes to the encounter, medical quality outcomes can then be measured: early and accurate diagnosis, appropriate medical treatment, effective use of resources, and continuity of care after the initial encounter.

Cost-effective medicine is bound by excellent physicians knowing their patients. And superceding cost-effectiveness is successful outcome -- the patient is healed -- also bound by knowledgeable healthcare practitioners knowing the science and knowing the patient.



O'Brien, R. (1994). The doctor-patient relationship. Beyond the Crisis: Preserving the capacity for Excellence in Health Care and Medical Science, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 729, 22-26.