Servant-Leadership & Healthcare: Are doctors showing empathy?

Most all of us have a horror story, or at least a negative experience, based on a doctor or hospital visit. And while I think that most hospitals have tried to make great strides in improving the patient experience, this recent article in the NY Times demonstrates that there are still too many doctors who display terrible bedside manner.

The reality is that some doctors come out of medical school with very elitist thinking: They are the doctor, therefore they know better than the patient. It is always refreshing to hear a doctor say "You know your body better than I do, help me understand how I can help." Unfortunately, these folks are few and far between.

But some medical schools are starting to change the way they train their doctors. And some hospitals are starting to look at better ways to train, and reward, those with high patient satisfaction. Some hospitals have turned to having residents examine an actor posing as a patient to observe their ability to exhibit empathy; others are taking away bonuses with low customer satisfaction numbers; and others are having those with low customer satisfaction numbers spend a day with those who score well with patients.

These are all things that are long overdue. There was a time when no one would question a doctor's decision; then again, there was a time when doctors made house calls too! Those days are long gone, and patients now expect more from a system that keeps taking more and more of our paycheck each year.