INVESTIGATION OF PATIENT-DOCTOR RELATIONS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF AGENCY THEORY

Abstract

The relationship between patient and physician can affect all health services in a positive or negative way. This relationship has changed over time, but the knowledge advantage that the physician has over the patient has not changed while providing healthcare services. This advantage, which is called as information asymmetry of the physician, causes the physician to decide on behalf of the patient and to establish a proxy relationship between them. This proxy relationship can sometimes cause ethical problems such as unnecessary service demand by some physicians and medical malpractice. It is aimed to determine the perspectives of the lecturers regarding the problems that may occur in health services provided by physicians. 250 lecturers were reached within the scope of the research. Questionnaire dimensions were determined as distrust in physicians, ethical problems, financial benefit, unnecessary demand and medical malpractice, and participation in the dimensions was found to be mean level. Participants think doctors that the most pharmaceutical companies demand unnecessary services due to promotions and financial dissatisfaction.  Most of the participants has participated in their relations with physicians, but physicians decide the final the examination / treatment choose.  A significant difference was found between the genders and ages of the instructors. Participants think that there may be some problems in their relations with physicians, but their participation in these problems is very low, especially in terms of ethical problems.