Trust: A reciprocal relationship between us and patients

AMA Leader Commentary. By Cecil B. Wilson, MD, May 7, 2007.

AMA LEADER COMMENTARY

A few words about current events in medical practice

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A message to all AMA members from Cecil B. Wilson, MD, chair of the AMA Board of Trustees.

Americans have given their physicians enormous responsibility and, with it, great trust. Trust is the cornerstone of human relationships, and nowhere is it more important than in the patient-physician relationship.

Trust in this context involves a confidence that we will -- and can -- do what is best for our patients.

Our patients hold the expectation that we will be a trusted friend, someone in whom they can confide some of the most sensitive and private aspects of their lives. They tell us things they would not tell their spouse or their priest. They do so knowing that we need to know and that they need not fear our discretion in keeping matters private -- and privileged.

That trust level is continually earned. It is added to literally with every patient contact. It is not something we receive by a demand or command. It is something patients extend to us initially because we bear the title of physician -- and over the long haul, by how we treat them.

Each quarter, Harris Interactive measures the confidence Americans place in their physicians. The current results:

A total of 88%, nearly nine out of 10, responded favorably to the question, "How much trust do you have in your physician?" One American in four (24%) holds complete trust; 39%, a great deal of trust; and 25%, a fair amount of trust.

A recent Gallup survey found that 33% of Americans approve, and 60% disapprove, of the job Congress is doing. That is a dramatic difference from the trust or approval Americans place in physicians. Congressional ratings were as low as 21% a year ago. Physician ratings have never fallen below 82%.