This doesn't surprise me at all, but I'm happy to see it.
Just look at how many blatant errors are in an average person's credit history, one of the most sensitive and important files any other party will ever hold about them, and mostly driven by computer-generated automatic updates. They are still borderline works of fiction for significant numbers of people.
Those credit histories are a lot more limited and objective than a person's current medical condition and past medical history, so I find it difficult to imagine even the most diligent medical professionals could collectively hold numerous conversations with a patient and perform numerous tests over the course of that patient's entire lifetime and never misunderstand something, fail to record a potentially significant fact mentioned in passing during a conversation, or simply make a mistake and record the wrong thing.
I learned something about lawyers and accountants very quickly after I started my first business. They charge a lot of money for their expert knowledge, and often they do understand subtleties in their fields that I don't, but they also still make dumb mistakes. I have found my working relationships with those professionals are dramatically improved, and the end results likewise, if we work more collaboratively. For simpler things, I get familiar with the issues (often with the expert's help) and make a first attempt myself that the expert can then review. For more complicated things that I simply can't do, we schedule time for the expert to talk me through the big picture and double-check any key details.
I cannot imagine why doctors do not routinely work the same way. It seems to offer all the same benefits and moderate all the same risks for all the same reasons. The only major difference is that in the case of a doctor it could literally be my life or quality of life at stake rather than just some numbers on a page or words in a court, which surely makes it all the more sensible to work collaboratively as much as possible.
Just look at how many blatant errors are in an average person's credit history, one of the most sensitive and important files any other party will ever hold about them, and mostly driven by computer-generated automatic updates. They are still borderline works of fiction for significant numbers of people.
Those credit histories are a lot more limited and objective than a person's current medical condition and past medical history, so I find it difficult to imagine even the most diligent medical professionals could collectively hold numerous conversations with a patient and perform numerous tests over the course of that patient's entire lifetime and never misunderstand something, fail to record a potentially significant fact mentioned in passing during a conversation, or simply make a mistake and record the wrong thing.
I learned something about lawyers and accountants very quickly after I started my first business. They charge a lot of money for their expert knowledge, and often they do understand subtleties in their fields that I don't, but they also still make dumb mistakes. I have found my working relationships with those professionals are dramatically improved, and the end results likewise, if we work more collaboratively. For simpler things, I get familiar with the issues (often with the expert's help) and make a first attempt myself that the expert can then review. For more complicated things that I simply can't do, we schedule time for the expert to talk me through the big picture and double-check any key details.
I cannot imagine why doctors do not routinely work the same way. It seems to offer all the same benefits and moderate all the same risks for all the same reasons. The only major difference is that in the case of a doctor it could literally be my life or quality of life at stake rather than just some numbers on a page or words in a court, which surely makes it all the more sensible to work collaboratively as much as possible.