The term "patient-centered care" can be interpreted as a flawed metaphor, as it overlooks the need for patients and physicians to coexist and collaborate in the care process, according to an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Author Charles L. Bardes, MD, an internist with Weill Cornell Physicians in New York, says "patient-centered medicine" dates back to 1969 when psychoanalyst Enid Balint coined the term when developing a form of therapy that considered patients' social context.
Now, patient-centered care has helped give way to the understanding of patients as consumers, according to the article. Dr. Bardes says that if "the patient is reconceived as a consumer, new priorities take center stage: customer satisfaction, comparison shopping, broad ranges of alternatives, choice, and unimpeded access to goods and services," according to the report.
Dr. Bardes says the term is a metaphor that contrasts with physician-centered care, replacing a world in which all matters revolve around physicians with a world in which everything revolves around the patient. Dr. Bardes concludes that the term is flawed, as patients and physicians must coexist and share "highly interwoven prerogatives" with neither party dominating the relationship, according to the report.
He suggests replacing the "patient-centered" metaphor with one that suggests more interconnectedness between physicians and patients.
Study: Patient-Centered Care Lowers Healthcare Costs
Study: Patient-Centered Care Lowers Healthcare Costs
Author Charles L. Bardes, MD, an internist with Weill Cornell Physicians in New York, says "patient-centered medicine" dates back to 1969 when psychoanalyst Enid Balint coined the term when developing a form of therapy that considered patients' social context.
Now, patient-centered care has helped give way to the understanding of patients as consumers, according to the article. Dr. Bardes says that if "the patient is reconceived as a consumer, new priorities take center stage: customer satisfaction, comparison shopping, broad ranges of alternatives, choice, and unimpeded access to goods and services," according to the report.
Dr. Bardes says the term is a metaphor that contrasts with physician-centered care, replacing a world in which all matters revolve around physicians with a world in which everything revolves around the patient. Dr. Bardes concludes that the term is flawed, as patients and physicians must coexist and share "highly interwoven prerogatives" with neither party dominating the relationship, according to the report.
He suggests replacing the "patient-centered" metaphor with one that suggests more interconnectedness between physicians and patients.
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