4. Going to doctor under the current system is more likely to kill you

All you have to do is ask. Everyone has a personal medical horror story or knows one who does. There is consensus among health care consumers and providers that our health care system is plain broken. And while we all agree we must fix it, trying to figure out how leads to murky, confusing, overwhelming, unsolvable messes. When did health care, which should be about taking care of people and excellent customer services, turn into “health scare” – where the patient is treated like a second-class citizen, intimidated and bullied, and possibly left fearing for his or her own life, while accepting mediocre care at best? In my 40 years of practicing medicine, I have witnessed the disintegration of individualized care and the demise of the doctor-patient relationship as subspecialties and advanced technologies have changed the landscape and priorities in health care. We’ve made many remarkable advances in medicine, such as those involving genomics, immunotherapy, organ transplants, immunizations and stem cells. But we’ve lost the humanistic side of medicine. Common sense medicine and the compassionate doctor who is grateful to care for a patient have been replaced with standardized, disease-centered protocols and never-ending tests and procedures with little or no patient touch. That may define progress, but the price of never making eye contact or knowing important details of a patient’s life have led to more problems than solutions. Insurance companies, drug companies, cover-ups for deadly mistakes and just protecting the bottom line have all taken a heavy toll on a most inspiring and caring profession. But patients aren’t powerless, and can take steps to not only protect themselves from bad outcomes, but to ensure they receive optimal care. We can make the system work and integrate modern progress with the wisdom of experience. Improving the Health System and the Patient Experience Simple changes in your personal perspective will improve the entire health system – and your experience as a patient – in short order. It all starts with you and building your self-confidence as a health care consumer. You alone live in your body, so listening or taking advice blindly from a person with a white coat and an MD after his or her name doesn’t guarantee success or health or a long happy life. You may think “the doctor knows best,” but that isn’t always the case. The doctor doesn’t know better than you do. To take control of your health and never be a victim again, follow these seven tenets: 1. Find a doctor who makes eye contact and asks personal questions. There’s no excuse for arrogance. If the doctor is staring at the medical record and doesn’t look at you, she won’t see you as a human being. You’re better off with no care at all than the shoddy care this doctor is about to give you. Just walk away – there’s always a better fit that might save your life.