HHS HealthBeat (March 09, 2009)

Hi, Doc

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

An apple a day may keep the doctor away, and apples are good, but who says you need to keep the doctor away? Researchers who looked at data on more than 155,000 patients say that the patients who were less connected to their doctors were less likely to get recommended care and complete preventive and diagnostic tests.

Dr. Steven Atlas of Massachusetts General Hospital:

[Dr. Steven Atlas speaks]"Connectedness refers to the closeness of a relationship between a patient and an individual physician. And typically, the sense that a patient will say, 'This is my doctor,' and that a physician will look at their lists of patients and say, 'I know that person.'"

It comes down to mutual understanding, support and trust.

The study in Annals of Internal Medicine was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: March, 09 2009