Arvydas Šilys, Viktoras Justickis
Abstract
Lithuanian law on patient rights and damage indemnificationimposes on a doctor the duty to follow the new diagnostic andtreatment guidelines (recommendations) and to obey the currentmedical professional standards of healthcare.The paper focuses on the awareness of doctors on the newestmedical knowledge, on their attitudes toward new medicalrecommendations and on their sensing of their responsibilitiesfor their implementation.The study is based on opinion pool of 30 doctors working inthe infectious disease and TB hospital.The research discovered the set of obstacles preventing doctorsto get full information on the latest achievements of the medicine.The most significant of them is the conviction of doctors that theyalready possess all necessary knowledge and thus do not need anymore. Additional obstacles proved to be the lack of necessary time,problems getting access to the new medical knowledge.The study demonstrated that even being well-informed on thenewest medical discoveries, many doctors desist from its use fordifferent farfetched reasons.The study showed that though the use of the modern medicallaw is demanded by the law, this legal demand not well understandby doctors. Doctors try to escape the necessity to obey this law byinventing of different reasons that, in their false opinion, do exemptthem from any duty to follow the mentioned obligation.All this showed that discovery of problems preventing theimplementation of the new medical knowledge and solution ofthese problems should be the first step in any modernisation andoptimisation program both in a single health care institution andin the whole national health care system.
Keyword(s): c ustomers‘ demanded health care standards, professional quality, management quality, medical professional standards
DOI: 10.5200/sm-hs.2014.081
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