"When many cures are offered for a disease, it means the disease is not curable" -Anton Chekhov
''Once you tell people there's a cure for something, the more likely they are to pressure doctors to prescribe it.'' -Robert Ehrlich, drug advertising executive.
"Opinions are like sphincters, everyone has one." - Chris Rangel
Doctors and Managers: This week's BMJ is devoted to the often adversarial relationship between doctors and those who try to manage the business of medicine. Although, unlike Britain, most doctors in the United States are independent practioners who run their own businesses, there are a growing number of US physicians who are employed by hospitals or hospital-run networks of physician practices,so the issue has some relevance to American medicine as well. Having sat through a four hour meeting with the managers who run my hospital-owned network of practices, I'd say that the practice of medicine is distinctly ill suited to being run as big business. Physician practices are small businesses, with small profit margins. They do best when they're kept small. Private physician practices don't have to worry about five million dollar loans. Private physician practices worry about seeing the sick and providing the best possible care, not about improving bond ratings. The more I see of medicine by MBA, the more I'm convinced it's bad for everyone -businessman, doctor, and patient alike. posted by Sydney on
3/21/2003 08:05:00 AM
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