Why Hospitals are not Transparent?

As a consumer of healthcare services and also as a keen observer of the drama that unfolds in a hospital everyday, I have often wondered at the extent of opacity that I see around me. A hospital is usually as transparent as a black hole. Ironically most hospital swear by the maxim of ‘complete transparency’. This is rarely true.

Try getting a straight answer from a hospital executive or a doctor and you will straightaway run into a wall.  They are just not programmed to answer straight. Many a times, I would accept that it may not be feasible or advisable for a doctor to be completely transparent. However, there are times when a doctor must look the patient in the eye and say as it is.

Delivering bad news is never easy. It takes a lot of character and compassion to tell another individual that he is terminally sick. However, not telling or beating around the bush, while doing so is far worse. Than there is the matter of giving hope to those diagnosed with a rare condition, telling them that, while they are gravely ill, they need to put up a fight and the doctors, the hospital and everybody else responsible for their care will walk with them every step of the way.  I would like to believe that the ability to communicate and connect with the patients is a wonderful gift to have and it makes for some very happy patients.  

On the Back of a Star

The star syndrome is a common phenomenon, which dazzles many a newly minted hospital.

I have been part of several start-up hospitals and have attended numerous meetings where all those who matter spout the now so familiar arguements about staying away from the ’stars’ in the medical firmament. The arguements run something like this.

The star doctor (a well established doctor with a roaring practice) will be too set in his practices, will bring too much baggage and will never follow our pristine processes, which are far superior to his current practices. He will be a bad influence on everybody else. Another arguement goes that we do not believe in the ’star’ system. Why should a ’star’ enjoy priviliges, which are not available to our other doctors. A third arguement goes that we believe in growing our own stars. The hospital brand should be the real star and not individual doctors.  

6 Ways To Get the Best Out of your Doctor

Doctors too are humans. Very often, when confronted with a medical crisis we tend to forget this simple fact. In my many years of experience of working closely with doctors in large corporate hospitals, I have learnt that by observing the following few simple rules one can extract the best out of ones doctors.