meraMD's Doctor Community

I was wondering why more hospitals don't have patient education libraries and why more doctors don't prescribe Information Therapy. After all, this is such a simple, inexpensive way of keeping patients happy; reducing medical costs; and improving patient inflow. I think I have finally figured out the reason after talking to the administrator of a leading hospital in India today.

He said, quite candidly, that " well-informed patients can be a pain in the neck " ! And this is when I finally realised that the reality is that most doctors are quite happy keeping their patients as poorly informed as possible, because it's easier to get " compliance" when patients don't ask too many questions. Ignorant patients tend to put doctors on a pedestal - and this is quite a comfortable position to be in, when you are a doctor ! You don't have to " waste time" answering questions from pesky patients - and you can use your time more "productively" to see more patients.

What George Bernard Shaw said over 100 years ago is still true - most professions are a conspiracy against the laity !