Too Much to Ask for? Trust in the Modern U.S. Healthcare System
Friday, October 13, 2023
9:30 AM – 10:45 AM ET
Location: Laurel AB (Fourth Floor)
Trust has long been viewed as a critical component of the physician-patient relationship and as a desirable force in healthcare more generally. Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, there have been numerous appeals to trust: trust in vaccines, trust in science, trust in public health measures, and trust in one’s doctor, to name a few. But few of even trust’s most ardent defenders in healthcare would dispute that the structure and delivery model of the United States’ current healthcare system are in many ways inimical to the cultivation of trust. In this presentation, I argue that we should reject the claim that trust—as opposed to mere reliance—is an appropriate expectation of patients in the current healthcare system. My argument will advance as follows: first, I will define the concept of trust and identify the ways in which it is distinct from related concepts like reliance. I will then point out the ways in which many of the criteria necessary for trust are absent in the current U.S. healthcare system. Finally, I will discuss why, in light of this, it is unreasonable for members of the healthcare system to expect patients to trust them. If trust is indeed an important component of healthcare delivery, then the current healthcare model must be reconfigured to make robustly trusting relationships possible within it.