2021 was a year that shone a spotlight on India’s healthcare system and one aspect that industry pundits focused on was ‘confidence and trust in the healthcare system’. In that regard,
The Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: Trust and Health, found that eroding trust could harm the individual and public health outcomes in the post-COVID-19 era and that people had low confidence in the healthcare system and its ability to manage a major health crisis.
When looked at from a clinical perspective, trust is an integral determinant of health, which is pivotal to both individual and public healthcare decisions. Trust is also central to better patient outcomes and is in their best interest, which is why it is considered the foundation for effective treatments and fundamental for patient-centered care. Several studies have shown that patients showed more beneficial health behaviors, fewer symptoms, a higher quality of life, and were more satisfied with treatment when they had higher trust in their healthcare team. From a physician’s perspective, honing a patient’s trust is imperative to better patient outcomes and better decision-making. To be effective, relationships between patients, clinicians, and healthcare organizations must be grounded in trust, a
faith impacts key health behaviors and outcomes. However, we have seen, an erosion of trust issues in healthcare, policy, and information is becoming increasingly polarized. Recent research has found that the healthcare industry prioritized health equity through investments, governance, and resources. While, organizations know that they need to make changes, the trouble in the past was that the industry as a whole made assumptions about what the community needed
One way to successfully build trust is for the healthcare industry, as a whole, to work towards building trust, moving beyond just medical care and foray into improving a patient’s healthcare experience as a whole while adding elements that help bolster trust
