Kindness, care and empathy are an essential part of my job – but it’s unlikely that these will ever be translated into KPIs or expressed in MyHR upload percentages, writes Dr Kruys
Last week, at the final meeting of the My Health Record Expansion Program steering Group, we spoke about trust. Or better, the lack of trust people have in big databases, governments in general and many other institutions.
This global trend is described by psychologist professor Barry Schwartz, who says:
“…The disenchantment we experience as recipients of services is often matched by the dissatisfaction of those who provide them. Most doctors want to practice medicine as it should be practised. But they feel helpless faced with the challenge of balancing the needs and desires of patients with the practical demands of hassling with insurance companies, earning enough to pay malpractice premiums, and squeezing patients into seven-minute visits – all the while keeping up with the latest developments in their fields.”
Schwartz says that we seem to respond to any problem with the same answer of sticks and carrots. There is a widespread belief that more and better rules and incentives will solve our woes. There is one issue. Rules and incentives deprive us of the opportunity to do the right thing. They undermine empathy, creativity and the will to figure out what moral right means.
The My Health record offers great opportunities for healthcare in Australia. However, even though 90.1% of Australians now have access to the My Health Record, this cannot be the end of the line. A system that is responsive, has means to listen to users and learn from errors, mistakes and imperfections, is key to an effective and trustworthy digital health solution into the future.
Kindness, care and empathy are an essential part of my job – and everyone else’s. But it’s unlikely that this will ever be translated into key performance indicators or expressed in My Health Record upload percentages, practice incentive payments or MBS fees.
People are inspired by great examples, not by incentives. Above all, most people want to do the right thing. Trust may be a rare commodity these days but it remains an essential ingredient of effective healthcare delivery. It’s common sense, really.
