The Patient’s View of the Doctor’s Job

Abstract

As far as I am concerned primary medical care is the major issue from the point of view of the public. The public, judging from surveys of popular opinion, generally assume that, though they are not in a very good position to judge, persons licensed to practice are technically competent. Therefore, the first concern of the consumer is access, that is the ability to get to a physician promptly when a need for medical care arises and when that felt need is acute. Secondly, the public has a concern, an important concern, with the extent to which the physician expresses an interest in them as patients and as persons. They want to feel that the doctor really cares, that he is not just doing a technical job or just trying to get a fee. And, of course, the third issue is cost. We have already mentioned the extent to which both the physician and the patient are not really aware of the true cost of medical care because so much of it is now paid for indirectly through direct Government subsidies or through third-party payments via non-profit or private health i nsurance.