Principles of Practice
I decided to start up a list of some principles that I would use to base my practice on, should I decide to go into private practice. Even if I don’t, I can try to incorporate them into wherever I do work, but it would be easier if I had more control.
Like much of this site, this page is a work in progress…
Self-Determination: the patient (and the physician) have control over decisions that concern them. For the patient, this means that they have final say in whether to accept a proposed treatment or not. For the physician, this means that they have the ability to determine the way that their practice is run (i.e. not insurance companies, managed care, Medicare/Medicaid, etc).
Personal Responsibility: a corollary to self-determination, the patient is ultimately responsible for their own health and well-being. The physician’s role is to offer advice and assistance.
Treat the patient, not the disease: I don’t want to be an expert on treating a specific disease, I want to be an expert at treating my patients.
Flexibility: Not every visit is the same, scheduling (among other practice systems) needs to allow for this
Patients want to feel better: They might not be willing to take the appropriate steps, and there may be obstacles, but in general they want to feel better
Physicians want to help patients feel better: They might misunderstand the patient’s definition of “better”, and they may get frustrated with the obstacles, but in general they want their patients to feel better
Mutual Respect: this includes respecting the time of the other party, scheduling is definitely a pet peeve of mine. There’s got to be a better way. I’m trying to think of models other than the standard “block scheduling” that most practices use.
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