Last JAMA issue is devoted to professionalism in medicine. A must read. I would like to highlight one article that sheds some light on the current situation:
Much can be learned from the decades of successful physician group self-regulation in such organizations as the Permanente Medical Groups and the Mayo Clinic. In these and other similar organizations, individual professional responsibility has been enhanced by a strong culture of group responsibility that has produced high-quality patient services and generally satisfied physicians. However, in suchorganizations, the physicians are self-governed, a setting that not only supports self-regulation but also may fundamentally differ from other newer models of physician employment.This is exactly what I was saying in my speech last Thursday. We do need a complete overhaul of the physician employment relationship in public and private health care. Current models are outdated and to take no action is not an option.
