Page 39 - NAMAH-Oct-2017

Namah An armchair view of physicians and patients

the ‘out’ kind, descend in droves, all eager to being consulted.
jump the queue and catch the attention of
the physician. The plight of people in most of Amongst the well-heeled patients, the respect
the emerging economies is most distressing and admiration for a physician depends upon
because the per capita availability of physicians the amount of fee being charged, the waiting
leaves much to be desired. period to get an appointment, the seniority of
the physician in the system and the value as
The Patient Satisfaction Quotient well as the rare availability of the medications
being prescribed.
It is well-known that the Patient Satisfaction
Quotient is a function of various factors — the This one surely does not apply to the teeming
time spent with the physician, the quality of multitudes who strive to keep their body and
interaction, the seniority of the physician in soul together day after day.
the system hierarchy, etc.
It follows that most patients using the
It follows that the following laws might apply: public hospitals are left dissatisfied. It does
not occur to them that the sheer exposure
Law #1: the more the time spent with a physician, of such physicians is so very wide that the
the higher the level of satisfaction of a patient. medical advice they dish out is much better.
Superfluous investigations are discouraged.
Admittedly, this law does not apply to those Medications recommended are often of
perched on a dentist chair. Nor does it apply a generic kind, saving the patient some
to those facing a minor surgical procedure precious money.
without the aid of analgesics.
A Patient Motivation-Hygiene Proposition
Law #2: the better the quality of interaction, the
higher the level of satisfaction of a patient. Those familiar with Herzberg’s two-factor
theory, popular in the realm of organisational
This law is a direct derivative of the psychology behaviour, would notice a striking similarity
of the individual. The more a patient is able between the situation envisaged in organ-
to off-load his worries and anxieties onto isations and the one we are endeavouring
the hapless physician, the happier he is to explore here.
apt to feel.
In case of organisations, job satisfaction and
There are some exceptions here as well. A job dissatisfaction are not part of a continuum.
physician found making an inappropriate Absence of satisfaction does not necessarily
remark about the weight of a patient who is imply presence of dissatisfaction. If the
a member of the female of our species will presence of Motivation Factors (respect and
risk losing the latter’s goodwill. recognition on the job, for instance) improves
job satisfaction levels, the absence of Hygiene
Law #3: the patient satisfaction level is directly Factors (such as physical working conditions,
proportional to the seniority of the physician etc.) leads to higher job dissatisfaction levels.

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