Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2003
Abstract
The authors review the principle features of the managed care system in an effort to understand the ethical assumptions inherent in managed care. The interrelationships among physician incentives, responsibilities of patients and the physician-patient relationship are examined in light of the ethical concerns identified in the managed care system. The managed care system creates ethical tensions for those who influence the allocation of scare resources. Managed care's administrative controls have increasingly changed the doctor-patient relationship to the businessperson-consumer relationship. Managed care goals of quality and access demand that physicians be both patient advocate and organizational advocate, even though these roles seem to conflict. A reemphasis of managed care's moral mission is essential for enabling physicians, patients, payers and policymakers to fulfill their new role and to preserve the fidelity of the doctor-patient relationship.
Recommended Citation
Mains D, Coustasse, A, Lykens, K, (2003). Physician Incentives: Managed Care and Ethics. The Internet Journal of Law, Healthcare and Ethics. Vol. 2(1).
Included in
Bioethics and Medical Ethics Commons, Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Health Services Administration Commons
Comments
The version of record is published in html and may be accessed at http://ispub.com/IJLHE/2/1/12416.
Copyright 2003 Internet Scientific Publications, LLC. Reprinted with permission.