Exerpt from NYTimes

[Guest guest]

Below is an exerpt from the NY Times. It by Judith Warner an author who is

currently writing a blog ( " Domestic Disturbance " ) on the NYTimes website

relating domestic life and American culture.

I think many of us may be able to relate to her comments. They may even

reflect the reasons many of us are on this list and putting in the effort

for the offices we have.

This is shared for enjoyment. I doubt there's anything to debate. It

simply struck me as well-alligned with the philosophy of so many in this

group. Personally, the first sentence in the second paragraph seemed right

on target. I hope you enjoy it.

Tim

" But the kind of relationship — or non-relationship — between doctor and

patient that it describes is all too common in America these days. While

there’s no limit to the number of “helping” professionals ready to step

forward to guide, shape and medicate kids through every stage of their

development, something human, something real, some feeling of safety has

been lost in our world of diagnosis codes, telephone triage and $30 fees

for filling out summer camp forms.

The quickie appointment, the self-assured specialist hiding behind his

firewall of nurses, the lack of access, the lack of human contact, of

conversation, follow-up and compassion is, unfortunately, the norm for

many parents trying to secure medical care for their children, at every

level of the socioeconomic spectrum. That, at least, was the finding of a

major survey of 400 pediatricians in 38 states conducted by Children’s

National Medical Center here in Washington back in 2003.

That study found that because of insurance restrictions, the average

length of time pediatricians now spend with their patients is only 8 to 12

minutes — “not enough time to properly diagnose and treat a child,” in the

words of Dr. Holbrook, chief medical officer of Children’s National

Medical Center.

What’s lost in these brief encounters is connection, information and,

above all, trust. No wonder parents suspect that their children aren’t

really being taken care of — and that they’re not really being fully

informed. No wonder they turn to friends, parenting magazines and

fear-mongering sites on the Internet for information. No wonder some end

up taking medical matters into their own hands, or turning to sympathetic

alternative practitioners — sometimes with fatal results.

“The system is broken,” Holbrook said at the time of the Children’s study.

Amen.

Our insurance-driven medical culture lays the groundwork for the “paranoid

parenting” style that has become so very common in our time. To fix it, we

don’t have to rid our children’s world of allergens. Or pump our

reservoirs full of Paxil to shut up “neurotic” parents. We’ve got to

change the way medicine is practiced, so that care replaces profit as the

currency of office visits, and so that parents’ trust and sense of safety

can be restored. "