When the stethoscope was invented in 1816, it was a revolutionary change in medicine. What was once an extremely detailed and intimate conversation between patient and provider suddenly had a new instrument separating them. But although this tool could have posed a threat to patient-provider trust turned out to be a boon for diagnostics and care quality.
“The paradigm that came about with the stethoscope was we started to put tools between the patient and the doctor,” explained Jack Stockert, MD, the managing director of strategy and business development at Health2047.
Nevertheless, patient-provider relationships and empathy still defined the healthcare experience, despite the use of the stethoscope. “There’s this conflict that was created as we’ve advanced what we’re able to do technologically. We can gather new information and data about what’s actually driving certain health outcomes that it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that health care by its nature has always been hyper regional,” Stockert said.