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Our top priority is providing value to members. Your Member Services team is here to ensure you maximize your ACSmember benefits, participate in College activities, and engage with your ACScolleagues. It's all here.

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Literature Selections

Surgeons Should Build Relationships, Engender Trust with Patients to Improve Outcomes

Synopsis by Lewis Flint, MD, FÅ˽ðÁ«´«Ã½Ó³»­

June 3, 2025

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Bolaji T, Rogers S. . Ann Surg. 2025; in press.

This viewpoint article provided valuable perspectives on the importance of patient distrust of the healthcare system as a cause of adverse events and emotional damage in patients and their families.

Several of the known social determinants of health, which include race, lower socioeconomic status, less access to primary care, and reduced access to treatments for chronic diseases, contribute to the problem of distrust. These factors are associated with reluctance to participate in research studies and increased use of alternative treatments and spiritual practices for treatment of diseases.

The authors noted that patients may view the healthcare system as being at odds with cultural beliefs; the lack of racial and gender diversity among healthcare providers adds to this problem.

Trust increases when healthcare providers advocate for policy changes that address systemic inequities.

The authors noted that trust grows when healthcare providers live in the communities they serve and form partnerships that support community well-being. Because trust is the backbone of successful medical care, all providers can and should work to “mend the wounds of mistrust.â€