Patient-Physician Relationship

Abstract

Medical Professionalism in the Changing Health Care Environment 5. Society must provide the appropriate context for delivering health care.Health plans, purchasers, government, clinicians, and patients should all recognize the importance of and provide consistent support for sustained, intimate patient-physician relationships within which physicians can fulfill their ethical obligations to patients.6. All parties to health care delivery should foster an ethical health care environment, including universal access and a reimbursement mechanism that encourages physicians to take the time required to provide and coordinate appropriate care for adult patients throughout the aging process.