I think this is the main reason why malpractice lawsuits are so prevalent in America. Patients are suing a faceless entity with whom they have no relationship. From a recent study about discharging patients from the hospital:
- Only 18% of patients knew the name of the physician in charge of their care (most physicians assumed the patient knew)
- 43% of patients could not state their reason for admission (most physicians assumed the patient understood diagnosis at least somewhat well)
- 90% of patients reported not being told about adverse effects of new medications
- Physicians were more likely to report that they occasionally spoke in front of patients without including them in the conversation
- 58% of patients described physician explanations as always comprehensible compared to only 9% of physicians
- Half of patients reported having anxiety or fears while hospitalized and of those half, 54% indicated that a physician never discussed these fears (while only 2% of physicians, ie one physician, reported never discussing fears)