Doctors are just as frustrated as you by our messed up healthcare system

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Communication is key to creating a healthy bond between doctors and patients. Doctors have a message for patients: Trust is a two-way street.

A recent Turning Points column discussed patients’ eroding trust in doctors, who for better or worse, are the front face of the healthcare system. Readers shared stories of rushed appointments, disjointed care and communication breakdowns. Doctors responded, and they have trust issues too, including with patients.

While some may see the response as defensive, it speaks to growing frustration on all sides with a system that has become cumbersome, costly and aloof. Healthcare in the U.S., it seems, pleases few and the bond between doctors and patients is fraying—although doctors hope to keep it from breaking. One of doctors’ biggest gripes: largely corporate institutions that effectively set patient quotas and require extensive documentation.

One physician said he and other doctors are allowed 15 minutes with patients; exceeding that leads to poor performance reviews and “being out of compliance." These doctors think patients lose trust because they don’t understand who or what is in control. “Physicians have lost autonomy," says Dr. Corinne Rao, an internal medicine physician and hospitalist.

“Their decisions are subject to the financial interests of their employer." Doctors also say that trust—and respect—go both ways. “It’s like a marriage," says Dr. James Schouten, a family physician.

Each side has to give 100%. Implying that a loss of trust is entirely the doctor’s fault, he says, suggests the patient has no role in establishing or maintaining trust. They do, he and others say.

“Patient honesty is a big problem," says Dr. John R. Bettinger, a