Changes in the Doctor/Patient Relationship After World War IIOne of the biggest changes in the health care delivery system since the end of World War II global has been the doctor/patient relationship. At the end of World War II, doctors still made house calls. However, with the increase in population – thanks to baby boomers – and the economics involved in providing services, the delivery system has changed. Changes in the delivery system have been driven primarily by advances in technology and the elimination of home visits. House calls before World War II were not an uncommon practice. Patients would call their doctor, usually the family doctor, and ask them to come to their home for whatever health services the doctor could provide. The doctor would gather his tools, go to the patient's home, provide his services, and from there go to another patient. In hindsight, house calls were an inefficient practice in terms of…• Time – Physicians spent valuable time traveling to and from house calls. The time doctors spent traveling or gathering the proper equipment for the job became very burdensome. • Money – There is no such thing as a free lunch. That being said, regardless of whether doctors were reimbursed, they still had travel expenses. • Productivity – As previously stated, doctors spent valuable time traveling to and from and preparing for the patient. House calls meant that doctors could only see a small number of patients in a single day (compared to the current delivery system). Less time spent caring for the patient meant that more patients could be seen in a day. • Technology – Because the doctor had to travel, he was not able to carry all of his medical equipment. After the doctor visits the patient at home, the doctor may not b...... middle of paper ...... health also reduces hospital readmissions by 14 % and emergency room visits by 20% (p. 42, para. 5). This nurse has a family member fitted with a pacemaker monitoring system. She can say it helps these patients feel more connected to their providers and also gives them a sense of security. She believes this is especially true when it comes to older people who go out less often. This nurse believes that if proper safety and security control is implemented to protect confidentiality and quality of care, information technology (IT) in health care and will continue to have an impact positive on patient care and outcomes. This nurse also believes that thorough and appropriate training on these sophisticated systems is very important for patient safety and effective care. With all the new advances in healthcare this will be a challenge but can only get better..