As the healthcare industry undergoes significant changes in lieu of technological advancements and rapidly changing patient requirements, the physician-patient relationship is also experiencing massive transformation. The dynamics of this relationship are considerably altering, surpassing generational expectations, and becoming as sociologic as it is ideologic and systematic. So, is the physician-patient relationship evolving or eroding?

Healthcare IT has opened up new vistas of operations for physicians. New pathways to healthcare delivery are making headway, including Big Data, telemedicine, Artificial Intelligence, urgent and retail clinics, and much more. These are essentially transforming how patients perceive their personal connection with their physicians. Healthcare providers today are increasingly getting involved in a patient’s care across a lifetime, particularly owing to sub-specialty care and the advancing the complexity of diseases.

Interestingly, the traditional one-on-one physician-patient relationship is now transforming into a more dynamic and group relationship. Gone are the days when solo family physicians were considered heroic figures. The notion of physicians as the sole purveyor of knowledge is obsolete today as healthcare teams have now expanded to include social workers, care coordinators, clinicians, and quite a few more. However, the primary concern here remains that how many care team members will an average patient allow/accept before he perceives the sanctity of this relationship is undermined. The patient’s comfort level needs to be taken into account in such situations.

While technology has revolutionized care delivery models, it has also transformed the communication process between the physician and patients, as well as how they interact with their own health. From patients researching online about their symptoms to clinicians accessing up-to-date resources online, technology is playing a critical role in altering healthcare systems. However, the healthcare systems have failed to communicate the rationale and expectations for these technological advancements in the field of healthcare. The physician-patient relationship, amid a technologically advanced environment, is inconsistent and ill-defined. This is precisely why both the parties are confused and uncertain when they experiment with modern healthcare technologies.

The role of patients has become more proactive, with patients reading up about their health concerns more actively over the internet. At the same time, the role of physicians has become more intuitive and interpretive, calling for the application of shared experiences and information. They have to focus on maintaining healthy and long-term relationships with their patients, establishing achievable expectations, and clearly defining the roles of team members. Moreover, health systems at large are also witnessing a change in role, becoming more proactive in devising appropriate strategies towards care delivery, and articulating the rationale for cost-effective decision making.

All in all, the physician-patient relationship is witnessing a paradigm shift in lieu of technology. Even though they are both empowered by the knowledge and advances in technology, they are rather confused and disoriented by the new digital world. Without a doubt, cutting-edge technologies have the potential to radically improve a patient’s healthcare experience. However, considerable attention needs to be given to the physician-patient relationship during the entire debate. Core structural elements of trust, access, and continuity must particularly be maintained since physicians’ empathy significantly improves the therapeutic impact and the patients’ quality of life.

It can reasonably be concluded that the physician-patient relationship has both improved and worsened in different contexts. On one end of the spectrum, a cohesive, digitally-equipped care team is capable of delivering comprehensive care to the patients, and innovative technology has introduced groundbreaking care delivery models such as telemedicine and AI-enabled healthcare facilities. On the other, there are concerns over the trust of these relationships. Hence, this relationship must necessarily provide the cohesion needed for the patients to maintain trust, access, and continuity that constitute the core of an ideal physician-patient relationship.