Physicians and the Changing Medical Marketplace

As the 20th century closes, the practice of medicine in the United States faces challenges as great as it ever has. On the one hand, medical science and technology have brought unimaginable benefits to the American population. On the other hand, these advances have contributed to the escalation of health care costs above what many people are able to pay. Physicians are caught in the middle — pressured by private and governmental purchasers of health care to keep costs down, while driven by the public and their own professional standards to do everything that might be beneficial for each patient. . . .