The author uses his own experiences as a primary care physician to describe the state of his profession and argues that the health care system will collapse without a strong physician-patient relationship and that the role of the primary care physician must change to survive.
Primary care medicine, as we know and remember it, is in crisis. While policymakers, government administrators, and the health insurance industry pay lip service to the personal relationship between physician and patient, dissatisfaction and disaffection run rampant among primary care doctors. The thin-margin efficiency, rapid pace, and high volume demanded by the new health care economics do not work for primary care, an inherently slower, more personal, and uniquely tailored service. Patients feel helpless, well aware they are losing a valued close connection as health care steadily becomes more transactional than relational, and medical students steer clear in order to pursue more lucrative specialties. In this book the author juxtaposes his personal experience with the latest research on the transformations in the medical field. He offers a cool critique of the "market model of medicine" while vividly illustrating how the seemingly inexorable trend toward specialization in the last few decades has shifted emphasis away from what was once the foundation of medical practice. The author also addresses other related issues of concern in modern practice, including: the overuse of diagnostic studies; the fragmentation of care; the increasing reliance on an array of prescription drugs; and the practice of defensive medicine. -- from Book Jacket.
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