Letters.

We Are So Bad

Article after article, study after study, the data flow in: We physicians are a bad lot. We interrupt, we rush, and our utilization of high-tech procedures shows us to be racists.

We are poor communicators. We aren't sensitive to the patients' personal beliefs. We don't have translators available for whatever language a patient speaks, including sign. We're not well rounded or sufficiently integrated into our communities, nor do we keep up with outcome-based medicine. We can't recall which patient has insurance that covers drugs and which drugs are on each plan. We are clueless as to the costs, and heedless of how the health plans suffer to cover them.

But do we love money! We drive expensive cars and want to be paid at the time of service. We are perennial cheaters, so we have to document each aspect of a patient encounter before payment will be considered. Because we're so interested in money, our fees are higher than the "usual and customary" and so must be marked down by insurers. That's probably why insurers take a month or more to process our checks and why we must refund in 15 days.

It's no surprise that malpractice litigation awards are going up. Just look at our many mistakes and our alienation of all those families and cultural groups. Worst of all, our handwriting kills people.

Maybe it's because we are so low-down that the "dead doctors don't lie" philosophies have appeal.

It's pretty clear how the world sees us, but. ...