Blog Category: Letters from the Foundation

For a profession that is based on an intimate relationship between patients and their health care providers, the perception that hospitals are consolidating out of greed without regard for the consequences for patients could intensify the fraying of Americans’ trust in health care.

Regardless of its effects on decision-making, if patients perceive a quid pro quo between a physician and a pharmaceutical company (for example), trust has already been chipped away.

The 2018 Forum goals are to examine ways to build and nurture trust against a backdrop of political and social turmoil, and all-time lows in Americans’ trust in institutions across society.

We need to study the fear factor in American medicine, particularly as it pertains to perceived versus actual instances of litigation.

Per a recent JAMA article, overutilization hasn’t proven to be a main driver of high health care spending in the U.S. as it compares to other countries. But does that mean we should leave that out of the equation altogether?