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Doctor-Patient Relationship (#56) Seeing a doctor is not like going out to buy something. It involves a whole range of issues that hinge heavily on trust, personal responsibility, and ongoing maintenance. The nature of this relationship has not changed much until about 50 years ago with the rise of drug manufacturers, hospitals, and insurance companies, which are for-profit corporations. This is brought about by the development of medical technology. We also saw governments in many countries taking over the health care business. The traditional relationship between doctor and patient still remains strong in many non-Western countries, especially in the Chinese countryside where ancient Chinese medicine is practiced. However, health care cannot escape the inevitable changes brought about by modern technology. The problem is not how much we dislike the change, but how best we can make it serve the community. The traditional relationship between doctor and patient has been largely destroyed in modern days. The following is a description of what has happened: Payment and Price Up to the 1950s, people paid out of pocket when they visited a doctor, except for a big operation where they might get help from the government or somewhere else. When you pay with your money, you tend to negotiate the price down and you dont overuse the service. The doctor cannot charge too high a price for fear of driving the patient out the door. Medical insurance changes all that. Just like an all …