Abstract
The growth of managed care was accompanied by concern about the impact that changes in health care organization would have on the doctor-patient relationship (DPR). We now are in a "post-managed care era," where some of these changes in health care delivery have come to pass while others have not. A re-examination of the DPR in this setting suggests some surprising results. Rather than posing a new and unprecedented threat, managed care was simply the most recent of numerous strains on the DPR that have occurred throughout the century. These strains are a constant, inevitable consequence of the varying needs and concerns of patient and physicians as they seek to balance their desires for a certain type of DPR with their simultaneous desire for other aspects of care such as lower costs, greater technological sophistication, and improved outcomes.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 29-32 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | American Journal of Bioethics |
Volume | 6 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2006 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Ethics
- Managed care programs
- Patient practice patterns
- Patient-physician relations
- Physician practice patterns
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Issues, ethics and legal aspects
- Health Policy