There are some things about health care that will never change, nor should they. At its heart, health care remains one of the most personal of professional endeavors, a human interaction that requires a delicate blend of science, intuition, and compassion.
But surrounding the core skills required in every encounter between physician and patient, is a system that supports – or is supposed to support – that interaction. In today’s world, often a doctor can only be as good as the system that surrounds him or her. That “support system” stretches beyond the confines of the health care delivery system itself and includes insurers, purchasers, and even patients, all of whom play a role in promoting high quality care. | more