Doctor-Patient relationship in healthcare institutions of Medellin, Colombia

Abstract

To understand the perceptions that doctors and patients have about their relationships and how the current conditions of the General System of Social Security in Health (GSSSH) influence their relationship. The collection and analysis of information was based on the saturation principle proposed by qualitative research, through direct observation and semi-structured interviews applied to 17 patients and 15 physicians during the exercise of their roles, in the waiting and consultation environment within the selected healthcare institutions. The interviews recorded, transcribed and analyzed under five precepts of the Grounded Theory of Corbin and Strauss. The sample design was theoretical for convenience. Health system conditions on the doctor's doing, abuse of the right by some patients, the perception of uneven quality between health care promotion entities, communication failures in the Doctor-Patient Relationships, loss of prestige of the general doctors, perception of disbelief towards young doctors, among other identified perceptions, hint that changes in the GSSSH contribute to the construction of current Doctor-Patient Relationships. It is essential that the actors of the GSSSH propose interventions that reinforce the communicative and psychosocial capacities in the doctors from their formative processes, as well as the provision of the GSSSH to provide conditions that allow the doctor to develop a health care focused on the patient.