Patients’ Preferences Matter: Stop the Silent Misdiagnosis

I particularly enjoyed the following passages from a fantastic King's Fund report on informed consent::  Patients’ Preferences Matter:  Stop the Silent Misdiagnosis.  The report is not about end-of-life care specifically, but has particular application.



"The solution is as simple in principle as it is counter-intuitive: give patients what they would want were they fully informed. Health care may be the only industry in which giving customers what they really want would save money."



"The politics of health care finance can be tense and exhausting. The source of much of the conflict, however, is the instinct that whatever the solution, there will be winners and losers. A move to stop the silent misdiagnosis, however, is not a win–lose prospect."



"The major constituents all win: it is a win for patients, who get what they would want were they fully informed; it is a win for the general public, as national resources are redirected to investments in education, infrastructure, and more; and it is a win for the health profession. Doctors become more confident that they deliver the right services every time, and experience less in the way of oppressive pressures for ever-improved operational efficiency."