MNCs, Corporate hospital, Doctor Google and Trust.

Trust is the keystone of doctor patient relationship.

In the good old days, the image of a physician was a grey old man sitting behind a dark wooden table and a long queue of patients who are facing the table patiently. They were confident that the stocky old man is a bit mean with money but he has the patients’ best interest at the core of his heart.

He will sure cost me Rs 20 more. It’s Okay. I don’t mind as long as he cures my child. After all he has been curing members of my family and neighborhood for the last 25 years.

He was like the grocer uncle next door, bit dishonest but dependable.

Days have changed.

People no longer believe in the “from my experience” reference. So we have replaced it with a single word- “Protocol“. But that certainly lowers our esteem in their eyes.

They even do not know the name of the doctor who will treat them. They see a five star building with beautiful receptionists and exotic health packages which can keep you disease free.

What are the offers available today ? is the primary enquiry in their mind. How can you trust such a faceless person ? How can you fight a Mega brand if you are wronged ? They’re not sure.

So they come to the hospital with a sense of mistrust. Can you trust a LIC agent however smart he may look ?

With the lack of trust they have to fall back upon Dr Google. Another faceless friend. The more you search it, the more confused you become. In desperation they pick up few clinical terms from the thin air by which they can call the doctor’s bluff.

There inside the doctor’s chamber there is no doctor but an arbitrator. An eager candidate ready for an interview armed with charts of protocol and graphic pictures in an expensive tablet. Suddenly you feel like you are in a five star hotel with the menu card on your table and a pair of eyes prodding you to pick your order. Quick please.

You desperately search in the menu for the words you have been told by Dr Google last night and then settle on the best match. All the while you are sure this is going to cost you a bundle of money. It is a financial deal: Drug coated stent or Indian stent, Laparoscopy or open surgery.

It is a battle of wit between your borrowed knowledge of only one night and a consumate salesman in the flow.

Finally you reach the medicine counter. The place for the final duel. How much discount you can elicit ? Whether branded or generic ? You can always squeeze out that 5% extra or free home delivery. After all you already have the online rates though you never trust them either.

In this whole process the biggest casualty is trust.

MNC pharmaceuticals, Corporate hospitals and information floating in Internet has reduced the Art of Medicine into a duel of Law and Commerce.