Without the Patient-Physician Relationship there is NO Quality Care

Open letter to patients, physicians and lawmakers from Sharon S. Jellinek M.D.,

This is the first letter I have ever written to a political figure and I pray that someone on your staff will bring this letter to your attention.

I have been a physician for close to 30 years. I am a second-generation pediatrician struggling to keep an independent solo practice alive. Not one politician has addressed what I feel is the major threat to health care…the physician-patient relationship. Without this, there is no quality of care no matter what you do. Physician patient relationships require time with the patient. Most of my diagnosis is derived from my patient-parent interview and a “hands on exam” of the child. You cannot possibly read a cookbook of medical questions and treatments and have the same result. The current insurance treadmill model of primary care makes this impossible. There is a hemorrhaging…