Marcus Welby meets Henry Ford

By By Craig Ziemba / guest columnist
Jan. 11, 2004
As the Legislature meets to consider another round of tort reform designed to bring relief to Mississippi's business and medical communities, prepare to be barraged by ads from special interests on both sides of the debate.
The public relations battle is important because lawyers and doctors alike know that whichever side applies the most pressure to lawmakers may dramatically influence the future of their professions.
I'm pulling for the doctors. Sure, many of them are too brainy and busy to give you the time of day, but I can't help but respect someone who as a teenager decided to begin a rigorous educational journey that would take them 12 years to complete.
When I was 18, I chose which classes to sign up for based on 1) how many pretty girls were taking it, 2) how many cuts were allowed so that I could deer hunt, and 3) how easy the teacher was. There's a reason I make considerably less than a physician.
On call
Most of us like doctors. We think it's wonderful that they save lives, cure diseases and deliver babies for a living. We're glad that someone's on call Christmas Eve to stitch up our noggin after we fall off the roof playing Santa. So how could doctors possibly lose a public relations battle to the guys on the back of the phone book?
The medical profession has an Achilles heel (two of them, actually) that is doing more damage to their reputation than legions of tassel-loafered litigators ever could. The first problem is the perception that medical societies cover up for incompetent doctors.
The vast majority of doctors are highly motivated, intelligent professionals you can trust with your life. But there are a small percentage of physicians who, either through laziness, irresponsibility or unsuitability have no business practicing medicine.
This small group of incompetents is typically responsible for most of the malpractice in a given area. Other physicians usually know who these quacks are, but are reluctant to speak out against them before the state medical board for fear of being sued by the doctor in question.
No matter how uncomfortable it may be, if physicians don't begin policing themselves, they run the risk of losing the trust of the very patients they studied so long to help. Just as someone may be forced to intervene into an uncomfortable situation if they know that their neighbors are abusing their children, physicians must be willing to step in when they have reason to believe the welfare of their patients is at risk, lawsuits be hanged.
Bedside manner
The second public relations hurdle that doctors must overcome is the impersonal, assembly line style medical practice that has taken the place of old-fashioned bedside manner. Nobody wants to spend two hours in the waiting room just to have a doctor walk in, look at a chart, scribble a prescription or referral, charge eighty bucks, and walk out two minutes later (I've heard numerous people complain of just that).
Patients understand that doctors are busy people and know that their time is at a premium. But it doesn't take much to make patients happy. When a doctor sits down for a moment, looks his patient in the eye, and shows a little concern, most of us are thrilled.
If Mississippi doctors really wanted to bring some political pressure to bear on the Legislature this year, rather than running political ads, perhaps they should begin practicing medicine like Marcus Welby and not Henry Ford.
Craig Ziemba is a pilot who lives in Meridian. His book, Boondoggle, is available at Meridian area Bible Bookstores.