"Increasingly, physicians
face imprisonment for carelessness and application of ambiguous legal
rules-these assertions and promises notwithstanding. Private physicians are
being sought as scapegoats for the growing financial problems
inherent in the Medicare and Medicaid systems."
Andrew Schlafly, AAPS General Counsel
Medical
Malaise
BY STEVE FISHMAN
Once upon a time, doctors who made it through those eight grueling years
of medical training were rewarded with a professional life that
virtually guaranteed affluence, independence, and nothing short of
reverence from their health-care colleagues and the culture at large.
That was before managed care swamped them with paperwork, chipped away
at their incomes, and turned them into cogs in the health-care machine.
Or at least that's their self-diagnosis. And you were wondering why
their bedside manner can leave something to be desired. Cont
"There's a lot of sitting around the table and
asking, 'Where did we go wrong?'"
-- A family doctor, "Medical Malaise"
