Don't harm me. Heal me. Hear me. For decades, health care organizations have held this high-reliability adage as the aspirational ideal for patient expectation. By reaching near Six-Sigma levels of safety, modern anesthesiologists have delivered on the first two tenets. It's time for anesthesiologists to focus on the third in both practice and leadership (Ann Intern Med 2005;142:756-64).
In 2018, Wazir et al. explored the relevance of patient satisfaction in the perioperative space (Ann Intern Med 2005;142:756-64). With both public and private payers shifting a larger proportion of health care costs to the patient, the authors noted that patients have naturally shifted mindsets toward that of an active consumer. Anesthesiologists have long surmised that our patients' prime desire is safety, and we have subsequently embraced safety as the most sacred value within our medical specialty. An exceptionally high standard of anesthetic safety is now a...