And if they remember that the physician cared, it is much more likely that they will cut down on the salt or quit drinking alcohol when they go home. To paraphrase Maya Angelou, “I can’t always tell my patients what they want to hear, I can’t always tell them that their lifestyle is appropriate, but I can always show them that I care.”
Dr. McIlraith is chairman of the department of hospital medicine of Mercy Medical Group in Sacramento, Calif.
References
- LeDoux JE. Emotional memory. Scholarpedia. Accessed August 2, 2015.
- Feinstein JS, Duff MC, D Tranel D. Sustained experience of emotion after loss of memory in patients with amnesia. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2010:107(17):7674-7679.
- Guzmán-Vélez E, Feinstein JS, Tranel D. Feelings without memory in Alzheimer disease. Cogn Behav Neurol. 2014;27(3):117-129.
- Institute of Medicine. Crossing the quality chasm: a new health system for the 21st century. March 2001. Accessed August 2, 2015.
- Bertakis KD, Azari R. Patient-centered care is associated with decreased health care utilization. J Am Board Fam Med. 2011;24(3):229-239.
- Stelfox HT, Gandhi TK, Orav EJ, Gustafson ML. The relation of patient statisfaction with complaints against physicians and malpractice lawsuits. Am J Med. 2005;118(10):1126-1133.
- Beckman HB, Frankel RM. The effect of physician behavior on the collection of data. Ann Intern Med. 1984;101(5):692-696.